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THE APOCRYPHA ὦ
AND PSEUDEPIGRAPHA

OF THE

OLD BESTAMENT

IN ENGLISH

WITH INTRODUCTIONS AND CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES
TO THE SEVERAL BOOKS

EDITED IN CONJUNCTION WITH MANY SCHOLARS BY

m. H. CHARLES. Litt,, 19.1),

FELLOW OF MERTON COLLEGE, OXFORD
FELLOW OF THE BRITISH ACADEMY

VOLUME II 3
PSEUDEPRGRAPRA

OXFORD
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS

1013

a)
4
ἊΨ

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
LONDON EDINBURGH GLASGOW NEW YORK
TORONTO MELBOURNE ΒΟΜΒΑΥ

HUMPHREY MILFORD M.A, |
PUBLISHER TO THE UNIVERSITY

BS .-
[eG 2.

NG ei Ὁ;
y ὰ
Moe. 2

PREFACE

For students both of the Old and New Testaments the value of the non-Canonical
Jewish literature from 200 B.c. to a.p. 100 is practically recognized on every side
alike by Jewish and Christian scholars. But hitherto no attempt has been made to
issue an edition of this literature as a whole in English.!. Indeed, such an undertaking
would have been all but impossible at an earlier date, seeing that critical editions of
some of the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha have not been published till within
the last few years.

The method observed in this work.

In all the contributions one and the same method has been observed. Each
contribution consists of an introduction, an English translation from the best critical
text—in a few cases the Revised Version has been adopted and emendations suggested
in the notes—and of a critical and exegetical commentary.?. As regards the intro-
ductions, the subjects dealt with in them have, so far as possible, been treated in
the same order to facilitate the use of the work. Though a large discretion has
naturally been given to the various editors, the following order has more or less
been observed as a guide or been actually carried out.

§ 1. Short account of the book, embodying its leading features and the editor's
chief conclusions.
Title of the book.
The MSS.
The Ancient Versions.
Date of (a) the original text, (6) of the Ancient Versions.
Integrity or composite nature of the text.
Authorship.
Influence of the book on later literature—(a) Jewish ; (ὁ) Christian.
Theology of the book.
10. Bibliography—
(2) Chief editions of the text (and of the Ancient Versions).
(ὁ) Chief critical inquiries.
(ὃ Chief editions of the book.

Sa Sa On 8h 4 tn. Co
CEA AREY db

1 Kautzsch published an edition in German in 1900, but on a smaller scale than the present work and embracing
fewer books of this literature (vol. i. 1-507; vol. ii. 1-540).

2 In the case of Sirach and Tobit the editors have been allowed much beyond the normal number of pages for
their critical apparatus, which they have used to good purpose.

iii

PREFACE

The extent of the present work.

The first volume contains what is generally known as the Apocrypha Proper,
which constitutes the excess of the Vulgate over the Hebrew Old Testament, which
excess was in turn borrowed from the LXX. But this volume differs from the
Apocrypha Proper at once in the way of excess and in the way of defect. 3 Maccabees
has been added after 2 Maccabees, since it is contained in many MSS. of the
LXX, and 4 Ezra has been transferred to Volume ii since it is essentially a
Pseudepigraph.

Volume ii contains all the remaining extant non-Canonical Jewish books written
between 200 B.c. and A.D. 100 with possibly one or two exceptions. The greater part
of these books have hitherto been accessible only in expensive editions—such as
Jubilees, 1 Enoch, Testaments of the XII Patriarchs, 2 Baruch, 4 Ezra, Psalms
of Solomon, Pirké Aboth, the Story of Ahikar, &c. As regards the last two, it is
not necessary to make any apology for their introduction into the present work,
although they do not properly fall within the true limits above defined, but they
were used, at all events partially, by Jewish readers within this period, nor can they
be rightly designated Pseudepigraphs. The Fragments of a Zadokite Work are of

an historical character, and are valuable in throwing light on a lost chapter of Jewish —

religious history. They contain likewise apocalyptic material of an interesting nature.

The General Editor, in conclusion, wishes to express his thanks to the Delegates
of the Press for undertaking this work, and to the Officers of the Press, whose help
and counsel were always ready to meet each difficulty as it arose. The Editor is
also under deep obligations to the many scholars who, notwithstanding the pressure
of other duties, have yet given themselves so unsparingly to the tasks they had
undertaken, that in every instance most valuable service has been rendered to the
student and the scholar, while in not a few instances their contributions form actual
monographs within the limits assigned. His thanks are due to Messrs. A. and C. Black,
the publishers of his editions of Jubilees, Martyrdom of Isaiah, Testament of the XII
Patriarchs, Assumption of Moses, 2 Baruch, for permission to reprint the translation
and make use of the introduction and notes contained in those editions. Finally, he
would acknowledge his indebtedness to the Rev. A. Ll. Davies, who has acted
throughout as his secretary and also made the General Index.

R. H. CHARLES.

24 BARDWELL ROAD, OXFORD.
March, 1913.

ee OeeEOeeEeEeEEOeeeeeEEeEeEeEeEeEEeee

CONTENTS OF VOLUME II

PAGES

EES ee oe -Ὸ a Ὁ ὦ vi
THE PSEUDEPIGRAPHA OF THE OLD TESTAMENT

GENERAL INTRODUCTION (Charles) . . , , : : : : : f vii

ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA A ; 7 : : 3 Ξ : : ; xii

PRIMITIVE HISTORY REWRITTEN FROM THE STANDPOINT OF THE LAW—
THE BOOK OF JUBILEES (Charles) . ὲ ς : : : : : : 1-82

SACRED LEGENDS—

THE LETTER OF ARISTEAS (Andrews) . ν : ; ᾿ : 2 ἢ 83-122
THE ΒΟΟΚΒ OF ADAM AND EVE (Wells) . : ; os es j ; ς 123-154
THE MARTYRDOM OF ISAIAH (Charles). ἄν τς : Ε : ‘ z 155-162
APOCALYPSES—
1 ENOCH (Charles) . 5 ; 5 : : : - : 163-2 Sieg
THE TESTAMENTS OF THE XII Parana (Charles) : ; P ‘ 282-367
THE SIBYLLINE ORACLES (Lanchester) . ‘ : é j : ’ i 368-406
THE ASSUMPTION OF MosEs (Charles) . : F . 407-424
2 ENOCH, OR THE BOOK OF THE SECRETS OF ENOCH (Forbes μὰ Charles) . 425-469
2 BARUCH, OR THE SYRIAC APOCALYPSE OF BARUCH (Charles). - : 470-526
3 BARUCH, OR THE GREEK APOCALYPSE OF BARUCH (Hughes) . 4 ‘ 527-541
4 Ezra (Box) . : : F ‘ : ; , : , ; ‘ 542-624
PSALMS—
THE PSALMS OF SOLOMON (Gray) . ἡ Ρ , : : ‘ ; 625-652

| ETHICS AND WISDOM LITERATURE—

| 4 MACCABEES (Townshend) ; : : , : ; ᾿ ; ; : 653-685

| PirKE ABOTH (Herford) . . . a oe. ὦ ie 686-714

. THE STORY OF AHIKAR (Harris, Lewis, Conyers) Sey’ <e : Ξ : 715-784
HISTORY—

THE FRAGMENTS OF A ZADOKITE WoRK (Charles) Ὁ . - -. 785-834

| GENERAL INDEX eet, SERS A) eae ee 835-871

CONTRIBUTORS TO VOLUME II

ANDREWS, HERBERT T., B.A. (Oxford), D.D. (Aberdeen), Professor of New Testament Exegesis,
Hackney and New College, London: The Letter of Aristeas.

Box, 6. H. (see list of Contributors to Vol. I): 4 Ezra.

CHARLES, R. H.: 2 Baruch, 1 Enoch, 2 Enoch, Martyrdom of Isaiah, Book of Fubilees, Assumption
of Moses, Testaments of the XII Patriarchs, Fragments of a Zadokite Work.

CONYBEARE, Εἰ, C., M.A., D.D. (Giessen), formerly Fellow of University College, Oxford ; Fellow of
the British Academy ; Officier d’Académie: Story of Akikar (Armenian Version).

Davies, A. LL, M.A., formerly Scholar of Queen’s College, Oxford: The General Index.

ForsEs, NEvILL, M.A., Reader in Russian and the other Slavonic Languages: 2 Enoch
(translation).

Gray, G. BUCHANAN, D.D., D.Litt., Professor of Hebrew and Old Testament Exegesis, Mansfield
College, Oxford: The Psalms of Solomon.

HARRIS, J. RENDEL, Litt.D., LL.D., Director of Studies at the Friends’ Settlement, Woodbrooke :
The Story of Ahikar (Syriac, Aramaic, and Greek Versions),

HERFORD, R. TRAVERS, B.A.: Pirké Aboth: The Sayings of the Fathers.
HUGHES, Η. MALpDWyN, D.D. (London); 3 Baruch.

LANCHESTER, Η. C. O., M.A., formerly Fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge: The Sibyiline
Oracles.

LEwis, AGNES SMITH, Hon. Phil. Doc. (Halle, Wittenberg), LL.D. (St. Andrews), D.D. (Heidelberg):
The Story of Ahikar (the Arabic Version).

TOWNSHEND, R. B., M.A., formerly Scholar of Trinity College, Cambridge: 4 Maccabees.

WELLS, L. S. A., M.A., formerly Tutor in Ripon Theological College; The Books of Adam
and Eve,

fyERODUCTION TO VOLUME II

§ 1. The apocalyptic and legalistic sides of pre-Christian Pharisaism—starting originally from the
same source—developed ultimately into Christianity and Talmudic Fudaism.

APOCALYPTIC Judaism and legalistic Judaism were not in pre-Christian times essentially
antagonistic. Fundamentally their origin was the same. Both started with the unreserved recog-
nition of the supremacy of the Law. This is to be expected in regard to legalistic Pharisaism, which
was therein only adopting the teaching of the priesthood.! But it is enforced also in apocalyptic
Pharisaism. Thus the most universalistic and ethical of all the apocalyptic writings, i.e. the Testa-
ments of the XII Patriarchs, declares that this Law is ‘ the light that lighteth every man’. To all
Jewish apocalyptic writers the Law was of eternal validity, but they also clung fast to the validity of
the prophetic teaching as the source of new truth and the right of apocalyptic as its successor in
this respect. We have early evidence of this conjunction of legalism and apocalyptic in the Book
of Joel. The Law is there recognized as authoritative, its ritual as of the highest import, while at the
same time the impending advent of the kingdom of God is depicted in highly apocalyptic colouring.
In the Book of Jubilees, the narrowest book that ever emanated from legalistic Judaism, the same
conjunction is manifest, though naturally the theology is of a much more advanced type.

Thus devotion to the Law is the note that characterizes apocalyptic from its earliest beginnings.
It appears in the declaration of Mattathias, the father of the Maccabees; it was voiced by the Jews
in their uprising against Caligula’s attempt to set up his statue in the Temple, and it is stereotyped
in words placed in the mouth of the Quietist saint in the Assumption of Moses: ‘ Let us die rather
than transgress the commands of the God of our fathers’ (ix. 6).

This original and fundamental identity of apocalyptic and legalistic Pharisaism in respect to
devotion to the Law needs to be emphasized, because Jewish scholars in the past, and to a consider-
able extent in the present, have denied to apocalyptic its place in the faith of pre-Christian orthodox
Judaism. This action on their part is unintelligible, seeing that Talmudic Judaism, no less than
Christianity, owes its spiritual conceptions of the future to apocalyptic.

The affinity then between Jewish apocalyptic and legalism is essential, since the Law was for both
valid eternally, but when apocalyptic passed over into Christianity and therein naturally abandoned
this view of the Law, it became in a measure anti-legalistic.2, Even before the Christian era each of
these two sides of Pharisaism necessarily tended to lay more and more emphasis on the chief factor
in its belief and study to the almost complete exclusion of the other, and thus legalistic Pharisaism
in time drove out almost wholly the apocalyptic element as an active factor (though it accepted some
of its developments) and became the parent of Talmudic Judaism, whereas apocalyptic Judaism
developed more and more the apocalyptic, i.e. prophetic, element, and in the process came to
recognize, as in 4 Ezra, the inadequacy of the Law for salvation. From this it follows that the
Judaism that survived the destruction of the Temple, being almost wholly bereft of the apocalyptic
wing which had passed over into Christianity, was not the same as the Judaism of an earlier date.
Before A.D. 70 Judaism was a Church with many parties: after A.D. 70 the legalistic party succeeded
in suppressing its rivals, and so Judaism became in its essentials a Sect. In modern times Judaism
is striving to recover the liberty of prophesying.}

1 One of the elements that contributed to this recognition was the identification of the Law and Wisdom. This
is already an accomplished fact in Sirach, though it had probably been long a current belief: cp. xix. 10, xxiv. 23:
see vol. i. 305 sq. But the most absolute assertion of the supremacy and everlastingness of the Law in pre-Christian

Judaism is to be found in Jubilees. See this vol., 1 sq.
2 The Law is not mentioned even once in the great New Testament Apocalypse.

vii

INTRODUCTION TO VOLUME II

§ 2. Fewish apocalyptic has been always pseudonymous from the third century B.C. onwards. This
pseudonymity due to the absolute supremacy of the Law, which left no room for prophecy. The
prophetic spirit cannot openly declare itself in Fudaism save by a breach with Talmudic
Fudaism.

Apocalyptic works written before the third century B.C. were not pseudonymons. Joel is
perhaps the latest apocalyptist in the Old Testament whose work was not pseudonymous. But
Zech. ix—xiv and Isaiah xxiv-xxvii—not to speak of other later additions to the earlier prophets—
were in all probability pseudonymous. At all events, from the third century B.C. onwards apoca-
lyptic has always been pseudonymous in Judaism. On the other hand in Christianity, for the first
century at any rate, apocalyptic ceased to be pseudonymous, and the seer came forward in his own
person. Of these strange and conflicting phenomena explanations have been advanced by various
scholars, and the latest by Gunkel, but they are all partial or inadequate. The present writer
is of opinion that he has arrived at an hypothesis which will satisfy all the conditions of the
problem.

We have already adverted to the fact that in the third century B.c. the Law had come to be
conceived as the final and supreme revelation of God. When once this idea of an inspired Law—
adequate, infallible, and valid for all time—had become an accepted dogma of Judaism, as it became
in the post-Exilic period, there was no longer room for independent representatives of God appearing
before men, such as the pre-Exilic prophets. God had, according to the official teachers of the
Church, spoken His last and final word through the Law, and when the hope was expressed that in
the coming age a prophet will arise, he was only conceived as one whose task was to decide ques-
tions of ritual or priestly succession, or legal interpretation in accordance with the Law. Thus in
1 Mace. iv. 46 the stones of the defiled altar of burnt-offering were to be put aside till a prophet
arose, and similarly in xiv. 41 (cf. ix. 27) the high-priesthood of Simon was to be provisionally acknow-
ledged till a prophet arose, who could decide on the validity of his high-priesthood. Accordingly
the first fact we are to recognize is, that from the time of Ezra and Nehemiah the Law has not
only assumed the functions of the ancient pre-Exilic prophets, but it has also, so far as it lay in its
power, made the revival of such prophecy an impossibility. The prophet who issued a prophecy
under his own name after the time of Ezra and Nehemiah could not expect a hearing unless his
prophecy had the imprimatur of the Law.! j

This is exactly the view of the Rabbinic scholars. Thus they taught that whereas the Prophets
and Hagiographa will in the future cease to be, for there is nothing in them which is not suggested.
in the Law (Jer. Meg. 70d), the Law itself would endure for ever (Taanit g@); and that ‘Any
prophet who attempted to annul one of its laws would be punished by death’ (Toseph. xiv. 13),
and that ‘though all mankind should combine, they could not abolish one yod of it’ (Cant. R. v.11;
Lev. R. xix; Num. R. xvii, &c.). (See Jewish Encyc. xii. 197.)

It is now clear, I think, that from Nehemiah’s time onward prophecy could not gain a hearing,
whether the prophecy was genuine—that is, appeared under the name of its actual author—or was
anonymous, unless it was acceptable in the eyes of the Law. From the class of genuine and
anonymous works we pass on to the third division, the pseudonymous, There are at all events two
of them in the Old Testament, Ecclesiastes and Daniel. With the former we have here no concern.
But how are we to explain the pseudonymity of Daniel and the other apocalyptic works of the second
century B.C., such as Enoch, Jubilees, and the Testaments of the XII Patriarchs? This pseudo-
nymity has already in part been explained. These apocalyptists do not merely repeat the old truths,
which in so many cases had become the mere shibboleths of a petrified orthodoxy, they not only
challenged many of the orthodox views of the time and condemned them, but they also carried

? Nay more, according to Zech. xiii. 1-5 (a late work written from the priestly standpoint), if a man declared
himself to be a prophet his father and his mother were to put him to death. By such drastic measures prophecy was
driven forth from the Losom of Judaism, and has never since been suffered to return. The task of leading the people
into more spiritual conceptions, alike as regards the present life and that which is to come, devolved henceforth on
apocalyptic, and that a pseudonymous apocalyptic.

Viii

INTRODUCTION TO VOLUME II

forward the revelation of God in the provinces of religion, ethics, and eschatology. Against the
reception of such fresh faith and truth the Law stood in the way, unless the books containing them
came under the aegis of certain great names in the past. Against the claims and authority of such
names the official representatives of the Law were in part reduced to silence, at all evets in the case
of the Book of Daniel. - But there is another ground for the adoption of pseudonymity, and when
we combine it with the autocracy claimed and exercised by the Law we have the grounds for which
we are in search. This second ground is the formation of the threefold Canon of the Law, the
Prophets, and the Hagiographa. Before the formation of the prophetic Canon anonymous prophetic
writings could gain currency and acceptance on the ground of their inherent worth, but when once
the prophetic Canon was closed, no book of a prophetic character could gain canonization as such.
Now the collection of the Prophets existed pretty much in its present form about 200 B.c., though
additions may have been made to Hosea, Isaiah, and Zechariah, &c., subsequently to that date. Into
the Hagiographa were received all-books of a religious character, of which the date was believed to
go back as far as to the time of Ezra. To this third division of the Canon books were admitted
down to A.D. 100, and the last were Canticles, Ecclesiastes, and Esther. Daniel was admitted to
this third Canon at some period in the second century B.C.

Daniel was admitted into the Canon in the belief that it was written by the ancient worthy of
that name; but not among the Prophets, for the prophetic Canon was closed, but among the
Hagiographa. The example of Daniel was followed by Jewish apocalyptic down to the thirteenth
century A.D. It was pseudonymous and remained pseudonymous; for the Law was supreme,
inspiration was officially held to be dead, and the Canon was closed. Moreover, all the great Jewish
apocalypses which were written before A.D. 10, and which carried on the mystical and spiritual side
of religion as opposed to the legalistic, Judaism dropped and banned after its breach with Chris-
tianity, just as it dropped and banned the Greek translation of the Old Testament. Thereupon
Legalism became absolute, and determined henceforth the character of Judaism. Apocalyptic,
which had exercised a determining influence in many of the great crises of the nation, and had
given birth to and shaped the higher theology of Judaism, was driven from its position of
secondary authority, and either banished absolutely or relegated wholly into the background.
Owing to this fact Jewish scholars like Jost and Graetz have denied the great significance of
apocalyptic in Judaism. But this blunder is every day becoming more impossible, and now we

find that Jewish scholars like Buttenwieser (Jewish Encyc. i. 676) maintain that the courage and

persistency of the Jews in their faith, their indomitable hope under persecution, their scorn of
death, were all nourished by apocalyptic from the times of the Maccabees down to the thirteenth
century A.D. ‘The darker the present grew . .. the more eagerly did their minds turn to the
comfort offered by apocalyptic promises, which predicted the end of their suffering and the dawn
of their delivery.’ ‘

All Jewish apocalypses, therefore, from 200 B.C. onwards were of necessity pseudonymous if
they sought to exercise any real influence on the nation; for the Law was everything, belief in
inspiration was dead amongst them, and their Canon was closed.!

§ 3. The ethical advance in Fudaism.

Prophecy has always been recognized as the greatest ethical force in the ancient world. Such
also was apocalyptic in its time, and yet an attempt has recently been made by advanced liberals
to differentiate prophecy and apocalyptic on the ground that apocalyptic and ethics are distinct, and
that ethics are the kernel and apocalyptic the husk which Christianity shed when it ceased to need
it. How any scholar who was really acquainted with the texts could make such a statement
I cannot understand. Apocalyptic was essentially ethical. ‘To use the mixed metaphor of St. Paul,
it was rooted and grounded in ethics, and that an ethics based on the essential righteousness of God.

1 See my Lschatology*, pp. 193-205.
ix

INTRODUCTION TO VOLUME II

In every crisis of the world’s history, when the good cause was overthrown and the bad triumphant,
its insistent demand was ever: ‘Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?’ and its uncom-
promising optimism, its unconquerable faith under the most overwhelming disasters, was : ‘ God reigns,
and righteousness shall ultimately prevail ’.

The ethical element is the fundamental element in the chief books of this literature. What else
but an inexpugnable sense of truth and duty to truth inspire the refusal of the three children in
Daniel to fall down and worship the image that the king had set up? When the king demands:
“Who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?’ mark the splendid heroism of their reply :
‘ There is a God whom we ‘serve who is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will
deliver us out of thy hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve
thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up’ (iii. 17 sqq.).

Now let us turn to the apocalyptic books outside the Canon.

What an expressive ethical statement is that in Jubilees (xxi. 22) addressed to Israel !

* Beware lest thou walk in their ways
And tread in their paths,
And sin a sin unto death against the Most High God,
And so He deliver thee back again into the grip of thy transgression.’

Or, turning to a different theme, let us hear what the Testaments of the XII Patriarchs say of
the faithful doer of the word of God:

‘Every man that knoweth the law of the Lord shall be honoured,
And shall not be a stranger whithersoever he goeth.. .
For though there be a leading into captivity,

And cities and lands be destroyed,

And gold and silver and every possession perish,

The wisdom of the wise can nought take away,

Save the blindness of ungodliness,

Or the callousness (that comes) of sin... .

Even among his enemies shall wisdom be a glory to him,
And ina strange country a fatherland,

And in the midst of foes shall prove a friend.’

(T. Levi, xiii. 3, 7-8.)

Or again, in 2 Enoch (xliii. 2-3): As one year is more honourable than another, so is one man
more honourable than another. This man on account of having possessions, that man on account of
the wisdom of the heart, another on account of understanding, another on account of purity, another
on account of strength... but let it be heard everywhere; there is none greater than he that
feareth God.’

Or again, when the apocalyptist says of the unceasing service of an order of heavenly beings :
‘ They rest not day nor night ; for unto them thanksgiving is rest.’

There are numberless other passages showing the moral depth and inwardness of this literature-
What nobler advice could the best ethical Christian teacher give to a defeated rival than this: ‘Ifa
man is prospered beyond you, do not be vexed, but even have recourse unto prayer on his behalf,
that he may be prospered to the full’ (T. Gad vii.1)? Or again: ‘If any man seeketh to do evil
unto you, do him a good turn, and pray for him, and so from all evil ye shall be redeemed of the
Lord’ (T. Jos. xviii. 2). Or again : ‘The holy man is merciful to him that revileth him, and holdeth
his peace’ (T. Benj. v. 4).

Now it would be possible to fill many pages in setting forth the teaching of apocalyptic on such
ethical subjects as conscience, courage, endurance, longsuffering, justice, truthfulness, temperance,
singleness of heart, deceit, calumny, folly ; on religious themes of an ethical character as love, faith,
works, forgiveness, compassion, humility, reverence, covetousness, lust ; or on metaphysical themes
influencing ethics, as foreknowledge, freedom, determinism, heredity, individualism, universalism ;
but we have established our thesis sufficiently for our present purpose.!

_ | Reprinted from my /schatology (2nd ed.), 190 sqq., Where the renderings differ slightly in diction from those
given in this volume.

INTRODUCTION TO VOLUME II

The ethical teaching on these subjects in apocalyptic is a vast advance on that of the O.T., and
forms the indispensable link which in this respect connects the O.T. with the N.T.

This ethical element is present also in Talmudic literature, but somehow it lacks the fire and
inspiration that distinguish it in the Pseudepigrapha. It is more nearly related to the average
morality and practical wisdom of the Proverbs of the Old Testament. The chief work on Ethics
in the Talmud, which is reproduced in the Jewish Book of Common Prayer, i.e. The Sayings
of the Fathers, has been translated and added to this volume, in order that the student might
have before him the best that Later Judaism produced in the domain of Ethics. It will be
obvious even to the most cursory reader that a great gulf divides the Ethics of the Testaments
of the XII Patriarchs, and even those of 2 Enoch, from these excellent but very uninspiring
sayings of Jewish sages belonging to the legalistic wing of Judaism. It is quite true that many
a fine saying is found in the other tractates of the Talmud and other Rabbinic writings, but the
harvest that rewards the diligent reaper is slight in comparison of the toil, and the number of
really fine sayings that were uttered before A.D. 100 is far from great.’

1 For avery favourable account of this side of Rabbinic Judaism see Schechter, Some Aspects of Rabbinic Theology,
1909. The chapter on the ‘ Joy of the Law’ (pp. 148-69) is well worth study. It shows that in all ages in Judaism
the joy that the Psalmists felt in the service of God was experienced likewise by many a Jew in the fulfilment of the
innumerable later requirements of the Law—requirements which to the non-Jew could only prove an intolerable and
unspiritual burden, and which were felt even by many spiritually-minded Jews to be a yoke that neither they nor their
fathers had been able to bear (Acts xv.10). But this type of mind which reaches its fullest satisfaction in unquestioning
submission to an external commandment is, of course, to be found in all religions. It is not progressive or prophetic
in character, but it helps to preserve some of the best elements in the past. See also Oesterley and Box, The Religion
and the Worship of the Synagogue, chap. vii.

ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA TO VOLUME II

P. 386 (The Sibylline Books). ΤῊΣ ;

Sibyll. ILI. 396-397. Instead of the rendering in the text, which is right indeed grammatically, we should
unquestionably render as follows: —

‘ Yet after leaving one root, which the Destroyer shall cut off
From among ten horns, he shall put forth a side shoot.’
The ‘one root’ was Antiochus V, Eupator, who was murdered by Demetrius I, son of Seleucus IV. He was the
last of ten horns, i.e. ten kings. We appear here to have an almost contemporary interpretation of the ten
horns in Daniel vii. 7-8, for the latest date of this section is 140 B.c. The above rendering has the support of
Rzach, Geffcken, and Schiirer—Gen. Eprror.

P. 473 (2 Baruch). 1. 23 from bottom read ‘ Sukka’ for ‘ Sakka’.

P. 474 Seq. On these pages I have given an analysis of the various elements of 2 Baruch, with their approxi-
mate dates from a.p. 60 to 100. But owing to the fact that Mr. Box, in his admirable Commentary on 4 Ezra,
has accepted Rosenthal’s view that 2 Baruch was derived from the school of Κα, Aqiba and written in the year
A.D. 115, it is necessary to consider the grounds from which Rosenthal draws this conclusion. Mr. Box’s Com-
mentary was not published when the edition of 2 Baruch for the present work was prepared. We shall now
deal with Rosenthal’s thesis.

Rosenthal (Vier apokryphische Biicher aus der Zett und Schule R. Akibas, Berlin, 1885) sought to prove
that the Assumption of Moses, 4 Ezra, 2 Baruch, and the Book of Tobit were written by members of the school
of R. Agiba.

pete the Assumption of Moses and the Book of Tobit no scholar would now agree with Rosenthal.
But for the learned and admirable Commentary of Mr. Box on 4 Ezra it would not be necessary to reconsider
Rosenthal’s views on 2 Baruch. Mr. Box (Zhe Ezra Apocalypse, p. xv sq.), however, writes: ‘We may there-
fore conclude that our book (4 Ezra) emanates from a school of apocalyptic writers who reflect the school of
Shammai ; just as the companion Apocalypse of Baruch (i.e. 2 Baruch) represents an apocalyptic school under
the influence of Aqiba. This important distinction has been well brought out by Rosenthal.’

With this statement I must join issue. On pp. 95-100 Rosenthal gives five grounds from which he con-
cludes the influence of R. Aqiba in 2 Baruch. The fifth is so beside the mark and irrelevant—being common-
places about the last plagues—that I will take no account of it here. The rest, indeed, are not much better, but
need to be considered owing to Mr. Box’s acceptance of Rosenthal’s conclusion. These are as follows:

(1) 2 Baruch (xi, 1 sq.) and Agqiba (Sire on Deut. § 43) alike complain of the prosperity of Rome and the
desolation of Zion, and both alike comfort their readers with the promised restoration of Zion. This would
naturally be a commonplace with most Jewish writers after a.p. 70, just as corresponding complaints and hopes
appear in the post-Exilic prophets respectively with regard to the successive oppressors of Judah and the
coming restoration of Jerusalem. But the same actual combination of complaint and comfort with regard to
Rome and Jerusalem respectively is found in the Psalms of Solomon ii. 1 sqq., 30-41, and the Assumption of
Moses vi. 8-9, x. 8-10. Hence no dependence of 2 Baruch on Aqiba can be deduced from this fact.

(2) Both believed strongly in the freedom of the will. But this does not prove anything. According to
Josephus (Azz, xiii. 5. 9) the Sadducees believed in the complete freedom of the will, while the Pharisees believed
alike in the freedom of the will and in Providence. Now according to this view the teaching of our book is
that of ordinary Pharisaism. Thus in A‘ (i.e. liv-Ixxiv) we find the vigorous assertion of free-will: ‘each of us has
been the Adam of his own soul’ (liv. rg). And yet throughout the section the supremacy of Providence is acknow-
ledged ; cf. lxix. 2, xx. 2. Exactly the same teaching is found in the Psalms of Solomon. ‘Thus in ix. 7 we have:

‘Our works are subject to our own choice and power
To do right or wrong in the works of our hands ;
And in Thy righteousness Thou visitest the sons of men.’
tony v. 4-6. Philo also (Quod Deus sit immutabilis 10) speaks in the strongest terms of man’s God-given
reedom.

(3) The next ground adduced by Rosenthal is that 2 Baruch and R. Aqiba alike bring forward the
chastening effects of adversity. But this teaching is found in Deut. viii. 5; Ps. xxxii. 1, 5, Ixxiii. 14, Ixxxix.
30-34, Cxix. 71, 753 Prov. iii. 12, xiii, 24; frequently in the Prophets and the Pseudepigrapha. For the latter
cf. Pss. Sol. ii. 16, vii. 3, viii. 7, 27, &c.

(4) The fourth ground is that 2 Baruch and R. Aqiba held that none who denied the resurrection would
share in it, According to Sanh. goa R. Aqiba made this statement, but nowhere in 2 Baruch is such an

xii

a ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA TO VOLUME II

affirmation made, though no doubt its various writers believed in the resurrection. Yet Rosenthal thinks he
finds it there, and cites two passages, i.e. xxx. 1, which in the present form of the text speaks, however, not of
belief in the resurrection of the dead, but in the hope of the Messiah, The second passage betrays an extra-

ordinary misunderstanding of Ceriani’s Latin rendering of 2 Baruch Ixv. 1, i.e. ‘ Manasses . . . cogitabat tempore
suo quasi ac futurum non esset ut Fortis inquireret ista.’ This of course means: ‘ Manasses . . . thought that
in his time the Mighty One would not inquire into these things.’ But Rosenthal took it as meaning : ‘ Manasses
thought in his time that there would be no future life !’

Thus the doctrines, which 2 Baruch and Agiba hold in common, are commonplaces even of pre-Christian
Pharisaism, and furnish no evidence for Rosenthal’s hypothesis, while all the internal evidence of 2 Baruch

tes various dates for its several constituents from a.p. 60 to roo. Moreover, whereas Aqiba declared that
the Ten Tribes would never return, 2 Baruch emphasizes this hope repeatedly ; cf. Ixxvii. 6, Ixxviii. 5, 6, 7,
Ixxxiv. 2, 8, 10, i. 4.

From the above it is clear that there are no grounds of evidence for Rosenthal’s contention. 2 Baruch,
if it belongs to any school, belongs to that of Hillel, who was the great rival of Shammai. Its main theses
are certainly in accord with much that is known of Hillel. Even its latest sections are too early to be the
products of R. Aqiba’s school, as is clear from the following dates. At the earliest Aqiba was born about
A.p. 40-50. As he did not attend the Rabbinic schools till he was forty, and did not become himself
a teacher till he had studied for thirteen years (see Aboth R. N. vi. 29, ed. Schechter), it follows that his school
was founded about the beginning of the second century a.p. Now, according to Ixviii. 5-6, the Temple was
standing when A® was written (and also A’ and A?), while as regards the other elements of 2 Baruch the
evidence is against any later date than a.p. go—100.—Gen. Eprror.t ὁ

Ῥ, 528 (3 Baruch). 1. 29 from bottom read ‘ Apoc.’ for ‘ apoc.’

P. 625 (Psalms of Solomon). 1. 11 from top for ‘(H)’ read ‘(V)’.

1. 6 from bottom for ‘H’ read “Ν᾽

P. 738 (Story of Ahikar). col. 3, 1. 6 from top for ‘get thy boon fragrant’ read ‘ get a good name’, the
former reading being due to a corruption in the MSS.—Conyseare.

P. 809 (Fragments of a Zadokite Work). In line 2 for ‘make atonement for’ read ‘ pardon’.

P. 814 (Fragments of a Zadokite Work). In the first note on this page the statement regarding Simon
ben Shetach is wholly wrong, and is to be deleted. This Pharisee did not appropriate the sacrifices of the
Nazirites, but by means of a gross lie to the king enabled them to offer their sacrifices at half the cost. By
falsely stating that he would bear half the expenses of the sacrifices, if King Jannaeus would bear the other
half, he prevailed on the king by this mendacious assertion to do so. The most remarkable point about the
incident, if it is wholly authentic, is that Simon ben Shetach appears to have been wholly unconscious of having
done any wrong.—Gen. Eprror.

1 Mr. Box has recently in a letter informed me that he is willing to accept the earlier dates I have assigned {to
certain of the sections of 2 Baruch, but that he regards them as redacted by an editor or editors of the school of
Agiba. This hypothesis, however, is quite different from that of Rosenthal.

xiii

SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS EMPLOYED IN INTRODUCTIONS, |

See special lists as under :— Sirach vol. I. 315. Test. XII Patr. vol. II. 295.
1 Esdras vol. 1. 19, 20. Prayer of Manasses ,, I. 620, 2 Baruch 1, ΤῈ 475.
Tobit ὃ Far © 1 Enoch » Il. 187. 4 Ezra » IL. 560.
See also under Versions and MSS. in the different books. ᾿
ΑἹ &c. See 2 Bar. § 7 Hiph Hiphil Sir. Sirach
A.J.Th. American Fournal of Theo- Hom Homer Slav. Bar. See vol.-ii. 131
Aboth Pirké Aboth ον 1 1. lliad Α ΠΣ Slav. Vit. Slavonic Vita Adae et Evae.
Ab, R. Nathan = Aboth Rabbi Nathan Int. Crit. Comm. = Jnternational Critical See Books of Adam and
ἀπ. Acy.orelp. ἅπαξ λεγόμενον or εἰρημένον Commentary Soph. Sophocles [Eve
Apoc.Abrah, A 1 of Abraham Intr. Introduction ; Stob. Stobaeus
Apoc. of Barach =2 ch J.E. Jewish Encyclopaedia Symm. Symmachus
Apoc. Zeph. Apocalypse of Zephaniah J.Q.R. Jewish Quarterly Review Ὁ Syncell Syncellus;
Aq. Aquila J-RAS. Fournal of the Royal Astatic | ὅγε. Syriac
Ἄ Arabic Society : ; Syr. H Hexaplaric Syriac
Aram, Frag. Aramaic Fragment. See Test. 1.8. FJournalof Theological Studies | Θυτ Syriac Version in Walton's
App. Il Jalkut Schim. = Jalkut Shimeoni Polyglot
Arm. Armenian Jashar Book of Jashar Sok, Sokolov’s Text of 2 Enoch
Ase. Is. Ascension of Isaiah Jer. Joma &c.= Joma in Jerusalem Tal- | T.A.&c. See under ‘Testaments’ in
Ass. Mos. Assumption of Moses mu list of symbols prefixed to
Aug. Augustine Jerus. Targ. Jerusalem Targum — Index.
B &c. See 2 Bar. §7 Jos. Ant. &c. Josephus, Antiquities, &c. Th. _ Babylonian Talmud
B.D. Bible Dictionary ub. Book of Jubilees Targ. Jer. em Targum
BS. Deissmann, Hiblical Studies Jiid. Theol.? Fiidische Theologie® (Weber) | Targ. Jon Targum Pseudo-Jonathan
1 Bar. Apocryphal Book of Baruch KS Kautzsch Ε : Th. Gram. Thackeray, Grammar of Old
2 Bar. Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch | K.A.T. Schrader, Die Keilinschriften Testament Greek
3 Bar. Greek Apocalypse of Baruch und das Alte Testament Theod. Theodotion
Ber. Rabb. LBereshith rabba Kit. Kittel Theoph. Theophilus
Berach,. or Berakh. = Berachoth L.A.E. Deissmann, Light from the | ‘Tebt. P. Tebtuneh Papyrus
Beresh. Bereshith Ancient East Tert. Tertullian
C.1L.G. Corpus Inscriptionum Grae- L.d.T. hpi Die Lehren des Tal- | Test, Testament
carum γῶν muds Test.Sim. See vol. ii. 153
C.0,T: Cuneiform Inscriptions and | L. δὲ 8 Liddell and Scott Test. = Testaie
the ‘Gia Testament. See | LXX, Septuagint Version ale she iviesecreigin so
K.A.T. Lact. Lactantius Tisch, Tischendorf
Cat. Niceph. Catalogue cone ae NT. a Veteris Testamenti Tob. Tobit
Chag. Chagigah (Talmu uc. ucian 7, ae : -
Chre. Pasch. = p jimat Paschale Lucr Lucretius ie or Nat Lat Ceo eee
Clem. Alex. Clement of Alexandria MS. Manuscript Vit. Ad Vita Adae
Clem.Recog. Pseudo-Clementine Recogni- MT. Massoretic Text Vulg. Vulcate
Cod. Codex tions 1 Macc. &c. First, &c., Book of Maccabees Ww.pP. Walton's Polvcloe
D.B. Dictionary of the Bible Macrob. Macrobius Wellh. Wellhausen ¥s
Dan. Daniel Mart. 15, Martyrdom of Isaiah Wisd. Book of Wisdom
Diod. Sic. Diodorus Siculus Mass. Massoretic Z.A.T.W. Zeitschrift fiir die A. T. Wise
Diog. Laert. oie a Laertius ee pet nue h (Talmud) BARTS en
E.A. 4 Ezra, § 7, and ii. 5 ena enachot almu δ F
E.B. or Bi. Encyclopaedia Biblica Mg. Margin ΟΣ pyran ba τ ΣΝ
Edd. po ne ee Mir Midrash ee ark Ξ
1 En. 1 Enoch or Ethiopian Enoc! ἬΝ. euhebraisches Worterbuch " ee ts “ ,
2 En. 2 Enoch or Slavonic Enoch NT. aor Testament Pea. et eee δὲε δὴν δ
Encye. Brit. Encyclopaedia Britannica Or: Old Testament ; Ὄπ
Ep. Barn, Epistle of Barnabas Onk. Onkelos, Targum of EW T ον τ eee
Ep. Jer. Epistle of Jeremy Onom. Sacr. Onomasticon Sacrum ἵ gre
Epiph. Epiphanius Or. Sibyll. Sibylline Oracles Suh ᾿ ae
Eth. Ethiopic Orph. Frag. Orphic Fragment οι indicate an intrusion into the
Eus. Eusebius ΡῈ, Palestine Exploration Fund original text
Ev. Nicod. Lvangelium Nicodemi P.P. Petrie Papyri + + indicate that the word or
4 Ez. Fourth Book of Ezra P.R. Eliezer Pirke Rabbi Eliezer passage so enclosed is cor-
Fayum P, Fayum Papyri P.R.E. Real-Encyclopddie fiir pro- rupt
Fr. or Frag. Fragment test. Theologie und Kirche italics indicate that th
& Greek Version PS.B.A, Proceedings of the Society of | ‘ ) OF Hales indicate that the
G.d.Jud. Geschichte des Fudenthums Biblical Archaeology se ouitad Φ ΤΟΣ ΩΣ tol
G.J.V. Schiirer’s Geschichte des jti- | Pesikt. Pesikta pr paring 3
dischen Volkes Ps. Clem. Recog. = Pseudo - Clementine beg depo ΟΣ ΟΎΘΧΟΝΝΝ,
G.V.I. Geschichte des Volkes Israel Recognitions + indicates that the authority
Gen, rabb. Genesis rabba Ps. Jon. Targum Psendo-Jonathan or authorities quoted insert
Gk. Greek Ps. of Sol. Psalms of Solomon the word or words follow-
Gk. Frag. Greek Fragment. See Test. | R. Rabbi ing this mark.
App. 1 RE. Real-Encyklopiidie adi :
Gr. Grimm R.E.J. Revue des Etudes juives = πη ρποι πηρόϊῳ teen pee
Gr. of O.T, Greek Grammar of Old Testa- | Rel.desJud. Religion des Fudenthums the word or words follows
ment Greek (Thackeray) Sam. Samaritan ing this mark
H.D.B Hastings’ Dictionary of the | Sam.Chron, Samaritan Chronology = ~~ To
Bible : Sanh. Sanhedrin { ) indicate a restoration in the
Bee History of the Fewish People | Schiirer,E.T. Schiirer’s History of the Few- text.
Heb. Gr. Hebrew Grammar ish People, English Trans- Thick type indicates an emendation in
Herm Hermas, Pastor Sept. Septuagint [lation the text.
Hes. Hesiod Shabb. Shabbath

TEXT AND NOTES

xiv

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES

INTRODUCTION

δι. SHORT ACCOUNT OF THE BOOK.

THE Book of Jubilees is in certain limited aspects the most important book in this volume for
the student of religion. Without it we could of course have inferred from Ezra and Nehemiah,
the Priests’ Code, and the later chapters of Zechariah the supreme position that the law had
achieved in Judaism, but without Jubilees we could hardly have imagined such an absolute supremacy
of the law as finds expression in this book. This absolute supremacy of the law carried with it, as
we have seen in the General Introduction, the suppression of prophecy—at all events of the open
exercise of the prophetic gifts. And yet these gifts persisted during all the so-called centuries of
silence—from Malachi down to N.T. times, but owing to the fatal incubus of the law these gifts
could not find expression save in pseudepigraphic literature. Thus Jubilees represents the triumph of
the movement, which had been at work for the past three centuries or more.

And yet this most triumphant manifesto of legalism contained within its pages the element
that was destined to dispute its supremacy and finally to reduce the law to the wholly secondary
position that alone it could rightly claim. This element of course is apocalyptic, which was the
source of the higher theology in Judaism, and subsequently was the parent of Christianity, wherein
apocalyptic ceased to be pseudonymous and became one with prophecy.

The Book of Jubilees was written in Hebrew by a Pharisee between the year of the accession of

od in 135 and his breach with the Pharisees some years before his déath

_Hyrcanus to the_high-priesthoo
in τοῦ B.C. It is the most advanced pre-Christian representative of the midrashic tendency, which
as

already been at work in the Old Testament Chronicles. As the Chronicler had rewritten the
history of Israel and Judah from the basis of the Priests’ Code, so our author re-edited from the
Pharisaic standpoint of his time the history of events from the creation to the publication, or,
according to the author's view, the republication of the law on Sinai. In the course of re-editing he
incorporated a large body of traditional lore, which the midrashic process had put at his disposal,
and also not a few fresh legal enactments that the exigencies of the past had called forth. His
work constitutes an enlarged Targum on Genesis and Exodus, in which difficulties in the biblical
narrative are solved, gaps supplied, dogmatically offensive elements removed, and the genuine spirit
of later Judaism infused into the primitive history of the world. His object was to defend Judaism
against the attacks of the hellenistic spirit that had been in the ascendant one generation earlier and

was still powerful, and to prove that the law was of everlasting validity. From our author’s conten-
tions and his embi i and apostates, we may infer that Hellenism had
Urged that the levitical ordinances of the law were only of transitory significance, that they had not
eet erate τὸ ae he testhnrtced of then now come for them to be sweép

» or Israel to take its place in the brotherhood of the nations. Our author regarded all

such views as fatal to the very existence of Jewish religion and nationality. But it is not as such that
he assailed them, but on the ground of their falsehood. The law, he teaches, is of everlasting
validity. Though revealed in time it was superior to time. Before it had been made known in
sundry portions to the fathers it had been kept in heaven by the angels, and to its observance hence-
forward there was no limit in time or in eternity.

Writing in the palmiest days of the Maccabean dominion, in the high-priesthood of John Hyrcanus,
he looked for the immediate advent of the Messianic kingdom. This kingdom was to be ruled over
by a Messiah sprung, not from Levi—that is, from the Maccabean family, as some of his contem-
poraries expected—but from Judah. This kingdom would be gradually realized on earth, and the
transformation of physical nature would go hand in hand with the ethical transformation of man till
there was a new heaven and a new earth. Thus, finally, all sin and pain would disappear and men
would live to the age of 1,000 years in happiness and peace, and after death enjoy a blessed
immortality in the spirit world.

1 Three-fourths of this section is reprinted from the present writer’s Introduction to his Commentary on the Book
of Jubilees,

1105.2 1 B

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES

δ. VARIOUS TITLES OF THE BOOK.

Our book was known by two distinct titles even in Hebrew.

(a) Jubilees = τὰ Ἰωβηλαῖα or of Ἰωβηλαῖοι = odann.

(6) The Little Genesis = ἡ λεπτὴ Γένεσις = ND NWN.

(a) F¥udbilees. This appears from Epiphanius (Haer. xxxix. 6) to have been its usual designa-
tion. It is found also in the Syriac Fragment entitled ‘Names of the Wives of the Patriarchs
according to the Hebrew Book of Jubilees,’ first published by Ceriani, Mon. sacra et profana, ii. 1. 9-10,
and reprinted by the present writer in his edition of The Ethiopic Version of the Hebrew Book of
Fubilees, p. 183. This name admirably describes the book, as it divides into jubilee periods of
forty-nine years each the history of the world from the creation to the legislation on Sinai. The
writer pursues a perfectly symmetrical development of the heptadic system. Israel enters Canaan
at the close of the fiftieth jubilee, i.e. 2450.

(6) The Little Genesis. The epithet ‘little’ does not refer to the extent of the book, for it is
larger than the canonical Genesis, but to its character. It deals more fully with details than the
biblical work. The Hebrew title was variously rendered in Greek. 1° ἡ λεπτὴ Γένεσις (or Λεπτὴ Γένεσις)
as in Epiphanius, Syncellus, Zonaras, Glycas. 2° ἡ Λεπτογένεσις in Didymus of Alexandria and in
Latin writers, as we may infer from the Decree of Gelasius. 3° ra λεπτὰ Tevéoews in Syncellus.
4° ἡ Μικρογένεσις in Jerome, who was acquainted with the Hebrew original.

2° The Testament of Moses.

3° The Book of Adam’s Daughters.

4° The Life of Adam.

1° The Apocalypse of Moses. ‘This title had some currency in the time of Syncellus (see i. 5, 49).
It forms an appropriate designation since it makes Moses the recipient of all the disclosures in the
book. 2° The Testament of Moses. This title is found in the Catena of Nicephorus, i. 175, where it
precedes a quotation from x. 21 of our book. It has, however, nothing to do with the Testament of
Moses, which has become universally known under the wrong title—the Assumption of Moses.
Rénsch and other scholars formerly sought to identify Jubilees with this second Testament of Moses,
but this identification is shown to be impossible by the fact that in the Stichometry of Nicephorus
4,300 stichoi are assigned to Jubilees and only 1100 to this Testament of Moses. On the proba-
bility of a Testament of Moses having been in circulation—which was in reality an expansion
of Jubilees ii-iii see my edition of Jubilees, p. xviii. 3° The Book of Adam’s Daughters. This
book is identified with Jubilees in the Decree of Gelasius, but it probably consisted merely of certain
excerpts from Jubilees dealing with the names and histories of the women mentioned in it. Such
a collection, as we have already seen, exists in Syriac, and its Greek prototype was used by the scribe
of the LXX MS. no. 135 in Holmes and Parsons’ edition. 4° The Life of Adam. This title is
found in Syncellus i. 7-9. It seems to have been an enlarged edition of the portion of Jubilees,
which dealt with the life of Adam.

§ 3. THE EtTuioric MSS.

There are four Ethiopic MSS., α ὁ ς d, the first and fourth of which belong to the National Library
in Paris, the second to the British Museum, and the third to the University Library at Tiibingen.
Of these a ὁ (of the fifteenth and sixteenth century respectively) are the most trustworthy, though they
cannot be followed exclusively. In a, furthermore, the readings of the Ethiopic version of Genesis
have replaced the original against cd in iii. 4, 6, 7, 19, 29; iv. 4, 8, &c. For a full description of
these MSS. the reader can consult Charles’s Ethiopic Version of the Hebrew Book of Fubilees,

pp. xii seqq.
§ 4. THe ANCIENT VERSIONS—GREEK, ETHIOPIC, LATIN, SYRIAC.

(a) The Greek Version is lost save for some fragments which survive in Epiphanius περὶ Μέτρων
καὶ Σταθμῶν xxii (ed. Dindorf, vol. iv. 27-8). This fragment, which consists of ii. 2-21, is published
with critical notes in Charles’s edition of the Ethiopic text. Other fragments of this version are
preserved in Justin Martyr, Origen, Diodorus of Antioch, Isidore of Alexandria, Isidore of Seville,
Eutychius, Patriarch of Alexandria, John of Malala, Syncellus, Cedrenus. Syncellus attributes to
the Canonical Genesis statements derived from our text. This version is the parent of the Ethiopic
and Latin Versions.

(4) The Ethiopic Version. This version is most accurate and trustworthy and indeed as a rule

INTRODUCTION.

servilely literal. It has, of course, suffered from the corruptions naturally incident to transmission
through MSS. Thus dittographies are frequent and lacunae are of occasional occurrence, but the
version is singularly free from the glosses and corrections of unscrupulous scribes, though the tempta-
tion must have been great to bring it into accord with the Ethiopic version of Genesis. To this
source, indeed, we must trace a few perversions of the text: ‘my wife’ in iii. 6 instead of ‘wife’ ;
xv. 12; xvii. 12 (‘her bottle’ instead of ‘the bottle’); xxiv. 19 (where the words ‘a well’ are
not found in the Latin version of Jubilees, nor in the Mass., Sam., LXX, Syr., and Vulg. of
Gen. xxvi. 19). In the above passages the whole version is influenced, but in a much greater
degree has this influence operated on MS. a. Thus in iii. 4, 6, 7, 19, 29, iv. 4, 8, v. 3, vi. 9, &c., the
readings of the Ethiopic version of Genesis have replaced the original text. In the case of ὁ there
appears to be only one instance of this nature in xv. 15 (see Charles’s Text, pp. xii seqq.).

For instances of corruption native to this version, see Charles on ii. 2, 7, 21, vi. 21, vii. 22,
x. 6, 21, xvi. 18, xxiv. 20, 29, xxxi. 2, xxxix. 4, xli. 15, xlv. 4, xlviii. 6.

(c) The Latin Version. This version, of which about one-fourth has been preserved, was first
published by Ceriani in his Wonumenta sacra et profana, 1861, tom. i. fasc. i. 15-62. It contains
the following sections: xiii. 10°-21; xv. 20°-31°; xvi. 5°-xvii. 6*; xviii. 1o°-xix. 25; xx. 5°-xxi.
τοῦ; xxii. 2-19; xxiii. 8°23"; xxiv. 13-xxv. 1*; xxvi. 8-237; xxvii. 11°-24°; xxviii. 16-27";
xxix. 8°-xxxi. τὸ; xxxi. g°-18, 29°-32; xxxii. 1-84, 18°-xxxiii. 9%, 18°-xxxiv. 5°; xxxv. 3°-12°;
Xxxvi. 20°-xxxvii. 5°; xxxviii. IX-16*; xxxix. 9-Χ]. 85; xli. 6°-18; xlii. 2°-14*; xlv. 8-xlvi. 1,
12-xlviii. 5; xlix. 7'-22. This version was next edited by Rénsch in 1874, Das Buch der Fubiliien
...unter Beifiigung des revidirten Textes der ...lateinischen Fragmente. This work attests
enormous industry and great learning, but is deficient in judgement and critical acumen. Ré6nsch
was of opinion that this Latin version was made in Egypt or its neighbourhood by a Palestinian
Jew about the middle of the fifth century (pp. 459-60). In 1895 Charles edited this text afresh in
conjunction with the Ethiopic in the Oxford Anecdota (The Ethiopic Version of the Hebrew Book
of Fubilees). To this work and that of Rénsch above the reader must be referred for a fuller
treatment of this subject. Here we may draw attention to the following points. This version,
where it is preserved, is almost of equal value with the Ethiopic. It has, however, suffered more at
the hands of correctors. Thus it has been corrected in conformity with the LXX in xlvi. 14, where
it adds ‘et Oon’ against all other authorities. The Ethiopic version of Exod. i. 11 might have been
expected to bring about this addition in our Ethiopic text, but it did not. Two similar instances
will be found in xvii. 5, xxiv. 20. Again the Latin version seems to have been influenced by the
Vulgate in xxix. 13. xlii. 11 (canos meos where our Ethiopic text = pov τὸ γῆρας as in LXX of
Gen. xlii. 38); and probably also in xlvii. 7, 8,and certainly in xlv. 12, where it reads ‘in tota terra’
for ‘in terra’. Of course there is the possibility that the Latin has reproduced faithfully the Greek
and that the Greek was faulty ; or in case it was correct, that it was the Greek presupposed by our
Ethiopic version that was at fault.

Two other passages are deserving of attention, xix. 14 and xxxix. 13. In the former the Latin
version ‘ et creverunt et iuvenes facti sunt’ agrees with the Ethiopic version of Gen. xxv. 27 against
the Ethiopic version of Jubilees and all other authorities on Gen. xxv. 27. Here the peculiar reading
can be best explained as having originated in the Greek. In the second passage, the clause ‘eorum
quae fiebant in carcere’ agrees with the Ethiopic version of Gen. xxxix. 23 against the Ethiopic
version of Jubilees and all other authorities on Gen. xxxix. 23.

On the other hand, there is a large array of passages in which the Latin version preserves the
true text over against corruptions or omissions in the Ethiopic version: cf. xvi. 16, xix. 5, LO, 11,
. Xx. 6, το, xxi. 3, xxii. 3, &c. (see my Text, p. xvi).

(4) The Syriac Version. The evidence as to the existence of a Syriac is not conclusive. It is
based on the fact that a British Museum MS. (Add. 12154, fol. 180) contains a Syriac fragment
entitled, ‘ Names of the Wives of the Patriarchs according to the Hebrew Book called Jubilees.’ It
was first published by Ceriani in his Monumenta Sacra, 1861, tom. ii. fasc. i. g-10,and reprinted by
Charles as Appendix III to his Text of Jubilees (p. 183).

$5. THE ETHIopIC AND LATIN VERSIONS—TRANSLATIONS FROM THE GREEK.

Like all the biblical literature in Ethiopic, Jubilees was translated into Ethiopic from the Greek.
Greek words such as dpis, βάλανος, λίψ, oxivos, φάραγξ, &c., are transliterated into Ethiopic.
Secondly, many passages must be retranslated into Greek before we can discover the source of their

corruptions. And finally, many names are transliterated as they appear in Greek and not in
Hebrew.

1 (δ), (c), and (d) reprinted from the present writer’s Commentary.

3 B

iS}

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES

That the Latin is derived directly from the Greek is no less obvious. Thus in xxxix. 12
timoris = δειλίας, a corruption of δουλείας ; in xxxviii. 13 honorem = τιμήν, which should have been
rendered by ¢ributum. Another class of mistranslations may be seen in passages where the Greek
article is rendered by the Latin demonstrative as in huius Abrahae xxix. τό, huic Istrael xxxi. 15.
Other evidence pointing in the same direction is to be found in the Greek constructions which have
been reproduced in the Latin ; such as xvii. 3‘ memor fuit sermones’ = ἐμνήσθη τοὺς λόγους : in xv. 22
‘consummavit loquens’ = συνετέλεσε λαλῶν : in xxii. 8‘ in omnibus guibus dedisti’ = ἐν πᾶσιν οἷς ἔδωκας,

§ 6. THE GREEK—A TRANSLATION FROM THE HEBREW.

The early date of our book—the second century B. C.—and the fact that it was written in Palestine
speak for a Semitic original, and the evidence for such an original is conclusive. But the question
at once arises, was the original written in Hebrew or Aramaic? Certain proper names in the Latin
version ending in -2z seem to bespeak an Aramaic original, as Cettin xxiv. 28; Adurin xxxviii. 8,9 ;
Filistin xxiv. 14-16. But since in all these cases the Ethiopic transliterations end in -m and not in
-n, it is not improbable that this Aramaising in the Latin version is due to the translator, who, as
Rénsch has concluded on other grounds, was a Palestinian Jew. Again, in the list of the twelve
trees suitable for burning on the altar some are transliterations of Aramaic names, But in a late
Hebrew work—written at the close of the second century B.C.—the popular names of such objects
would naturally be used. Moreover, in certain cases the Hebrew may have already been forgotten,
or, when the tree had been lately introduced, been non-existent.

But the arguments for a Hebrew original are many and weighty. (1) A work which claims to be
from the hand of Moses would naturally be written in Hebrew; for Hebrew, according to our author,
was the sacred and national language, xii. 25-6; xliii. 15. (2) The revival of the national spirit is,
so far as we know, accompanied by a revival of the national language. (3) The existing text must
be retranslated into Hebrew in order to explain unintelligible expressions and restore the true text.
Thus l4‘éléja in xliii. 11 = ἐν ἐμοί, which is a mistranslation in this context of 3; for ‘2 here
= δέομαι, ‘ pray,’ as in Gen. xliv. 18. In xlvii.g the text = ‘domum (=n) Faraonis’, but the
context demands ‘filiam (=n3) Faraonis’, though here the argument is not conclusive, since ΠΣ
might have been corruptly written for ΠΣ, which in Aramaic = ‘ daughter’. Again in xxxvi. τὸ
(cp. also xxxix. 6) the text = οὐκ ἀναβήσεται (= ja‘arg) els τὸ βιβλίον τῆς ζωῆς. But ja‘arg must
= ‘will be recorded’. Now this meaning is unattested elsewhere in Ethiopic, but the difficulty is
solved when we find that it is a Hebrew idiom: see 1 Chron. xxvii. 24, 2 Chron, xx. 34. (4) Many
paronomasiae discover themselves on retranslation into Hebrew, as in iv. 9 there is a play on the
name Enoch, in iv. 15 on Jared, in viii. 8 on Peleg, &c. (5) Many passages are preserved in
Rabbinic writings, and the book has much matter in common with the Testaments xii Patriarchs,
which was written about the same date in Hebrew. Both books, in fact, use a chronology peculiar
to themselves. (6) Fragments of the original Hebrew text or of the sources used by its author are
to be found in the Book of Noah and the Midrasch Wajjisau in Jellinek’s Beth-ha-Midrasch,
ili. 155-6, 3-5, reprinted in Charles’s edition of the Ethiopic text on pp. 179-81.

§ 7. TEXTUAL AFFINITIES.

A minute study of the text shows that it attests an independent form of the Hebrew text of
Genesis and the early chapters of Exodus. Thus it agrees with individual authorities such as the
Samaritan or the LXX, or the Syriac, or the Vulgate, or the Targum of Onkelos against all the rest.
Or again it agrees with two or more of these authorities in opposition to the rest, as for instance
with the Massoretic and Samaritan against the LX X, Syriac and Vulgate, or with the Massoretic and
Onkelos against the Samaritan, LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate, or with the Massoretic, Samaritan and
Syriac against the LXX or Vulgate. But the reader must here be referred to Charles’s Book of
Jubilees (pp. xxxiii-xxxix) for a full classification of these instances. A study of these phenomena
proves that our book represents some form of the Hebrew text midway between the forms pre-
supposed by the LXX and the Syriac ; for it agrees more frequently with the LXX, or with com-
binations into which the LXX enters, than with any other single authority, Next to the LXX it
agrees most often with the Syriac or with combinations into which the Syriac enters. On the other
hand, its independence of the LXX is shown by a large array of readings, where it has the support
of the Samaritan and Massoretic, or of these with various combinations of the Syriac, Vulgate and
Onkelos. From these and like considerations we may conclude that the textual evidence points to
the composition of our book at some period between 250 B.C. and 100 A.D. and at a time nearer
the earlier date than the latter.

INTRODUCTION

§8. THE VALUE OF THE BOOK OF JUBILEES IN THE CRITICISM OF THE MASSORETIC TEXT
| OF THE Book OF GENESIS.

From a study of the facts which are referred to in the preceding Section it will be clear that
both before and after the Christian era the Hebrew text did not possess any hard and fast tradition.
Tt will further be obvious that the Massoretic form of this text, which has so long been generally
assumed as conservative of the most ancient tradition and as therefore final, is after all only one of
the many phases through which the text passed in the process of over 1,000 years, i.e. 400 B.C. till
A.D. 600, or thereabouts.

As we pursue the examination of the materials just mentioned we shall see grounds for
regarding the Massoretic text as the result partly of conscious recension and partly of unconscious
change extending over many centuries. How this process affected the text in the centuries
immediately preceding and subsequent to the Christian era, we have some means of determining in
the Hebrew-Samaritan text which, however much it may have been tampered with on religious or
polemical grounds, still preserves in many cases the older reading, even as it preserves the older
form of the alphabet. Next we have the LXX of the Pentateuch, to which we may assign the
date 200 8. C.; next the Book of Jubilees just before the Christian era; the Syriac Pentateuch before
A.D. τοῦ ; the Vulgate of the fourth century ; the Targums of Onkelos and Ps.-Jon. in their present
form A.D. 300-600.

We have above remarked that the evidence of §6 shows that the Massoretic text is only one
of the phases through which the Hebrew text has passed; and if we consider afresh the materials
of evidence suggested in that Section in connexion with their dates, and given in some fullness in
the Introductions to Charles’s Text and Commentary, we shall discover that in some respects
it is one of the latest phases of the Hebrew Pentateuch that has been stereotyped by Jewish
scholars in the Massoretic text.

This conclusion will tally perfectly with the tradition that all existing Massoretic MSS. are
derived in the main from one archetype, i.e. the Hebrew Codex left behind him by Ben Asher, who
lived in the tenth century, and whose family had lived at Tiberias in the eighth.

We shall now proceed to give a list of readings in the Massoretic text which should be corrected
into accord with the readings attested by such great authorities as the Sam., LXX, Jub., Syr., Vulg.

The following list was published in Charles’s Ethiopic Version of the Hebrew Book of Fubilees
in 1895. More than two-thirds of the emendations of the Book of Genesis here suggested were
subsequently accepted independently, on the evidence of the Sam., LXX, Syr., Vulg., without
a knowledge of Jubilees, by C. J. Ball in his edition of the Hebrew Text of Genesis, 1896, by Kittel
in his edition of the Hebrew Text of Genesis, 1905, and more than half in the recent Commentary
of Gunkel.

In Gen. viii. 19 for I DD AivT-—>] W_ITZ ANID we should read B_ID MAIN ἢν Π Ο9] MN-dz
with the Sam., Sam. Vers., Jub. (v. 32), Vulg. (‘omnia animantia iumenta et reptilia quae reptant super terram’),
and Arabic. The LXX and Syr. confirm our emendation (see my Ethiopic text, p. 21, note 29). Here Onk.
only supports the Massoretic. ‘The restoration is confirmed by Gen. i. 26 where the very combination ΟΠ
wna is actually found.

In xi. 8 after VYF add bam with Sam., LXX, and Jub. (x. 24), against Mass. and Vulg.

In xi, 31 DAN i837 we have a reading that should be emended into OFAN N¥4 with Jub. (xii. 15) and Syr.,
or into DM& &¥i" with the Sam., LXX, Itala, and Vulg. Only Onk. supports the Massoretic.

In xii. 3 for pon read Toe with Sam., LXX, Jub. (xii. 23), Syr., Vulg. The reading of the Mass. is
the first movement in the change of plurals into singulars, which is completed in Onk. and Ps.-Jon., where
both the participles are in the singular. A few Hebrew MSS., however, preserve the original reading.

In xy. 21 after 2¥237°NN) add “NINN with the Sam., LXX, and Jub. (xiv. 18), against Mass., Syr., and
Vulg.
a xvii. 14 after iNOW add ‘8D DPI with Sam., LXX, and Jub. (xv. 14), against Mass., Syr., and Vulg.

In xvii. τό for PHIIB read YHIID with Sam., LXX, Jub. (xv. 16), Syr., and Vulg. Only Onk. supports
the Mass. For 709) of Mass., Sam., and Onk. read ΠῚ with LXX, Jub. (xv. 16), Syr., and Vulg. For 73
of Mass., Sam., and Onk. read 3381 with LXX, Jub., Syr., and Vulg.

a In xvii. 19 add 3 before wd with Sam., LXX, Jub. (xv. 19), Syr., Vulg., and Arab. Only Onk. supports
6 Mass.

In xxi. 8 after PO¥YNN add 133 with Sam., LXX, and Jub. (xvii. 1), against Mass., Syr., Vulg., and Onk.

In xxi. 13 after M287 add NN with Sam., LXX, and Jub. (xvii. 6), against Mass., Syr., Vulg., and Onk.

In xxi. 13 after %n9 read bin with Sam., LXX, Jub. (xvii. 6), Syr., Vulg., Arab. Only such late
authorities as Mass.,; Onk., and Ps.-Jon. omit on religious and polemical grounds, the last giving quite
a different turn in expression of national hatred, oop’ oy, ‘nation of robbers.’

— νὰν.

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES

In xxii. 13 for ΠΣ read 798 with some Hebrew MSS., Sam., LXX, Jub. (xviii. 12), Syr., Ps.-Jon.,
Graec.-Ven., against Mass. and Vulg. Onk. combines both readings. ;

In xxii. 16 after TPOYNS add 399 with Sam., LXX (8¢ ἐμέ), Jub. (xviii. 15), Syr., Vulg. (Aropter me).
Only the Targums support the Mass.

In xxv. 8 for Y2%) read D°D! YI, as in Gen. xxxv. 29, with Sam., LXX, Jub. (xxiii. 8, cf. xxi. 1 ; xxii..7),
Syr., Vulg., Arab. Onk. supports the Mass. ; ; τ

In xxvi. 18 for 3 of Mass. and Onk. read "739 with Sam., LXX, Jub. (xxiv. 18), Vulg. Syr. combines
both readings. ; ἕ /

In xxvii. 27 after TTY add ΩΣ with Sam., LXX, Jub. (xxvi. 22, Lat.), Syr. Vet. (este Diodoro), Vulg.

Onk. supports Mass. in omitting. Ἢ ᾿
In xxviii. 4 after DTS add P38 with Sam., LXX, Jub. (= "38 xxvii. rr). Mass., Syr., and Vulg. omit.

In xxix. 27 for 722) of Mass. and Onk. read 1298) with Sam., LXX, Jub. (xviii. 8), Syr., Vulg., and Arab.

In xli. 56 for O73 WE read 12 O73 TW ninyix with Jub. (xlii. 3), LXX τοὺς σιτοβολῶνας and Onk. 818
ΕΣ 72, also Targ., Jer., and Ps.-Jon., Syr., and Vulg., support ΠΥ δ, while 72 is actually found in the
Sam., which reads 93 ὉΠ WR. iy J

In xliv. 31 after 3 add BAS with Sam., LXX, Jub. (xliii. 12), Syr., Vulg., Arab. Mass. and Onk. stand
here alone.

In xlv. 28 after 31 read 5 with LXX, Jub. (xliii. 24), Syr., Vulg., and Onk. against Mass. and Sam.

In xlvi. 13 for ΠῚ read 78 with Sam., LXX, Jub. (xliv. 17), Syr., Vulg., Onk. 1 Chron. vii. 1 confirms
this emendation. Yeas ν᾿

In xlvi. 13 for 3 of Mass., Vulg., and Onk. read 32% with Sam., LXX, and Jub. (xliv. 17). 1 Chron.
vil. 1 confirms this emendation.

In xlvi. 24 for Dbv read DIY with Sam., Jub. (xliv. 30), and 1 Chron. vii. 13. The Syr. pasa and LXX
Συλλήμ support the former. ᾿

In xlvi. 28 for NAIND read ΠΣ with Sam., Syr., or MI81) with Jub. (xliv. 9) and Onk, or ninpad with
LXX.

$9. DATE OF (a) THE ORIGINAL TEXT AND (6) OF THE VERSIONS.

(a) Jubilees was written between 153 B.C. and the year of Hyrcanus’ breach with the Pharisees.

(1) It was written during the pontificate of the Maccabean family, and not earlier than 155 B.C.,
when this office was assumed by Jonathan the Maccabee. For in xxxii. 1 Levi is called a ‘priest
of the Most High God.’ Now the only Jewish high-priests who bore this title were the Maccabean,
who appear to have assumed it as reviving the order of Melchizedek when they displaced the
Zadokite order of Aaron. Despite the objections of the Pharisees, it was used by the Maccabean
princes down to Hyrcanus II (Jos. Azz. xvi. 6. 2). (2) It was written before 96 B.c.; for since our
author was of the strictest sect a Pharisee and at the same time an upholder of the Maccabean
pontificate, Jubilees cannot have been written later than 96, when the Pharisees and Alexander
Jannaeus were openly engaged in mortal strife. (3) It was written before the public breach between
Hyrcanus and the Pharisees when Hyrcanus joined the Sadducean party. As Hyrcanus died in
105, our book was written between 153 and 105.

But it is possible to define these limits more closely. The book presupposes as its historical
background the most flourishing period of the Maccabean hegemony—such as that under Simon
and Hyrcanus. The conquest of Edom, which was achieved by the latter, is referred to in
xxxviii. 14. Again our text reflects accurately the intense hatred of Judah towards the Philistines in
the second century B.C. It declares that they will fall into the hands of the righteous nation, and
we learn from 1 Macc. and Josephus that Ashdod and Gaza were destroyed by Hyrcanus and
Alexander Jannaeus respectively. But it is in the destruction of Samaria, which is adumbrated
in the destruction of Shechem, xxx. 4-6, that we are to look for the true zerminus a quo. Now all
accounts agree in representing the destruction of Samaria as effected- by Hyrcanus about four years
before his death. Hence we conclude that ¥ubilees was written between 109 and 105 B.C.

Many other phenomena point to the second-century origin of our book, which are given in
Charles’s edition, pp. lviii-Ixvi. Amongst these we might mention the currency of older and
severer forms of the halacha than prevailed in the rabbinical schools, or were registered in the
Mishnah. The severe halacha regarding the sabbath in 1. 8, 12, were indubitably in force in the second
century B. C., if not earlier, but were afterwards mitigated by the Mishnah and later Judaism. Again
the strict halacha in xv. 14 regarding circumcision on the eighth day was a current, probably the
current, view in the second century Β. C. and earlier, since it has the support of the Samaritan text and
the LXX. This strict law was subsequently relaxed in the Mishnah. In xxxii. 15 the severe law
of tithing found in Lev. xxvii. 15 is enforced, but rabbinic tradition sought to weaken the statement.
As regards the halacha laid down in iii. 31 regarding the duty of covering one’s shame, it is highly

a ἷ

ee υπ ηή)»ΎῦὙῪὋκἊνἝ υσυσοὌι" “"σ ee

INTRODUCTION

probable that such a halacha did exist in the second century B.C., when Judaism was protesting
against the exposure of the person in the Greek games. See also iii. 8-14 notes and xx. 4 note.

Other cases of strict rules afterwards relaxed are the limitation of trees for use with burnt-
offerings (see xxi. 12-15 notes), the restriction of the eating of the passover to the court of the
Lord’s house (see xlix. 20 note), the close adherence to the exacting demand of Lev. xix. 24 that
the fourth year’s fruit should be holy (see vii. 36 notes), though here we have a variant reading.
Note that the rest of the firstfruits belong to the priests, who are to eat them ‘before the altar.’
On the other hand, the thank-offerings in xxi. 8-10 do not belong to the priest. The computation
of the Feast of Weeks is different from the later prevalent Pharisaic reckoning (see xv. I note;
xvi. 13; xliv. 4—5), while the account of the Feast of Tabernacles in xvi. 21-31 is peculiar to

ubilees.

: Finally, we might draw attention to the fact that the Pharisaic regulation about pouring water
on the altar (Jer. Sukk. iv. 6; Sukk. 44 a) at the feast of tabernacles appears to have been unknown
to him. We know that the attempt of the Pharisees to enforce its adoption on Alexander Jannaeus
resulted in a massacre of the former. Attention might also be drawn to the fact that the Priests
and Levites still numbered in their ranks, as in the days of the author of Chronicles, the masters of
the schools and the men of learning, and that these positions were not filled as in the days of
Shammai and Hillel by men drawn from the laity. This inference is to be deduced from the fact
that the Levites are represented as the guardians of the sacred books and of the secret lore
transmitted from the worthies of old time (x. 4, xlv. 16).

(4) Date of the Ethiopic and Latin Versions. There is no evidence for determining the exact
date of the Ethiopic version, but since it was practically regarded as a canonical book it was
probably made in the sixth century. R6nsch, as we have already pointed out in § 4, gives some
evidence for regarding the Latin version as made in the fifth century.

§ 10. JUBILEES FROM ONE AUTHOR BUT BASED ON EASTERN BOOKS AND TRADITIONS.

Our book is the work of one author, but is largely based on earlier books and traditions. The
narrative of Genesis forms of course the bulk of the book, but much that is characteristic in it is
due to his use of many pseudepigraphic and ancient traditions. Amongst the former might be
mentioned the Book of Noah, from which in a modified form he borrows vii. 20-39, x. 1-15. In
vii. 26-39 he reproduces his source so faithfully that he leaves the persons unchanged, and forgets
to adapt this fragment to its new context. Similarly our author lays the Book of Enoch under
contribution, and is of great value in this respect in determining the dates of the various sections of
this book. See Introd. to 1 Book of Enoch, zz /oc. For other authorities and traditions used by our
author see Charles's edition, § 13.

δ τι. JUBILEES IS A PRODUCT OF THE MIDRASHIC TENDENCY WHICH HAD BEEN ALREADY
AT WORK IN THE O.T. BOOKS OF CHRONICLES.

The Chronicler rewrote with an object the eariier history of Israel and Judah already recounted
in Samuel and Kings. His object was to represent David and his pious successors as observing all
the prescripts of the law according to the Priests’ Code. In the course of this process all facts
that did not square with the Chronicler’s presuppositions were either omitted or transformed. Now
the author of Jubilees sought to do for Genesis what the Chronicler had done for Samuel and
Kings, and so he rewrote it in such a way as to show that the law was rigorously observed even
by the Patriarchs, The author represents his book to be as a whole a revelation of God to Moses,
forming a supplement to and an interpretation of the Pentateuch, which he designates ‘the first
law’ (vi. 22). This revelation was in part a secret republication of the traditions handed down
from father to son in antediluvian and subsequent times. From the time of Moses onwards it was
preserved in the hands of the priesthood, till the time came for its being made known.

Our author's procedure is of course in direct antagonism with the presuppositions of the Priests’
Code in Genesis, for according to this code ‘ Noah may build no altar, Abraham offer no sacrifice,
Jacob erect no sacred pillar. No offering is recorded till Aaron and his sons are ready’ (Carpenter,
The Hexateuch,i.124). This fact seems to emphasize in the strongest manner how freely our
author reinterpreted his authorities for the past. But he was only using to the full a right that had
been exercised for nearly four centuries already in regard to Prophecy and for four or thereabouts
in regard to the law.

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES

§12. OBJECT OF JUBILEES—THE DEFENCE AND EXPOSITION OF JUDAISM FROM THE
PHARISAIC STANDPOINT OF THE SECOND CENTURY B.C.

The object of our author was to defend Judaism against the disintegrating effects of Hellenism,
and this he did (a) by glorifying the law as an eternal ordinance and representing the patriarchs as
models of piety; (6) by glorifying Israel and insisting on its separation from the Gentiles ; and
(c) by denouncing the Gentiles and particularly Israel’s national enemies. In this last respect
Judaism regarded its own attitude to the Gentiles as not only justifiable but also just, because it
was a reflection of the divine. eg

But on (a) it is to be observed further that to our author the law, as a whole, was the realization
in time of what was ina sense timeless and eternal. It was observed not only on earth by Israel
but in heaven. Parts of the law might have only a time reference, to Israel on earth, but in the
privileges of circumcision and the Sabbath, as its highest and everlasting expression, the highest
orders of archangels in heaven shared with Israel (ii. 18, 19, 21; xv. 26-28), The law, therefore,
was supreme, and could admit of no assessor in the form of Prophecy. There was no longer any
prophet because the law had made the free exercise of his gift an offence against itself and God.
So far, therefore, as Prophecy existed, it could exist only under the guise of pseudonymity. The
seer, who had like Daniel and others a message for his time, could only gain a hearing by issuing it
under the name of some ancient worthy.

§ 13. THE AUTHOR—A PHARISEE WHO RECOGNIZED THE MACCABEAN PONTIFICATE AND
WAS PROBABLY A PRIEST.

Since our author was an upholder of the everlasting validity of the law, and held the strictest
views on circumcision, the Sabbath, and the duty of complete separation from the Gentiles, since
he believed in angels and demons and a blessed immortality, he was unquestionably a Pharisee of
the strictest sect. In the next place, he was a supporter of the Maccabean pontificate. He glorifies
Levi's successors as high-priests and civil rulers, and applies to them the title ‘ priests of the Most
High God’—the title assumed by the Maccabean princes (xxxii. 1). He was not, however, so
thoroughgoing an admirer of this dynasty as the authors of Test. Lev. xviii. or Ps. cx, who expected
the Messiah to come forth from the Maccabean family. Finally, that our author was a priest might
reasonably be inferred from the exaltation of Levi over Judah (xxxi—xxxii), and from the statement
in xlv. 16 that the secret traditions, which our author claims to publish, were kept in the hands of
Levi’s descendants.

δ 14. INFLUENCE ON LATER LITERATURE.

On the influence of Jubilees on 1 Enoch i-v, xci-civ, Wisdom (?), 4 Ezra, Chronicles of
Jerachmeel, Midrash Tadshe, Book of Jasher, the Samaritan Chronicle, on Patristic and other
writings, and on the New Testament writers, see Charles’s edition, pp. 1xxiii-Ixxxvi.

δι5. THEOLOGY. SOME OF OUR AUTHOR'S VIEWS.

Freedom and determinism. The author of Jubilees is a true Pharisee in that he combines belief
in Divine omnipotence and providence with the belief in human freedom and responsibility. He
would have adopted heartily the statement of the Pss. Sol. ix. 7 (written some sixty years or more
later) τὰ ἔργα ἡμῶν ἐν ἐκλογῇ καὶ ἐξουσίᾳ τῆς ψυχῆς ἡμῶν, τοῦ ποιῆσαι δικαιοσύνην καὶ ἀδικίαν ἐν ἔργοις
χειρῶν ἡμῶν: v. 6 ἄνθρωπος καὶ ἡ μερὶς αὐτοῦ παρὰ σοὶ ἐν σταθμῷ, οὐ προσθήσει τοῦ πλεονάσαι παρὰ τὸ
κρίμα σου, ὁ θεός. Thus the path in which a man should walk is ordained for him and the judgement
of all men predetermined on the heavenly tablets: ‘ And the judgment of all is ordained and written
on the heavenly tablets in righteousness—even the judgment of all who depart from the path which
is ordained for them to walk in’ (v.13), This idea of an absolute determinism underlies many
conceptions of the heavenly tablets (see Charles’s edition, iii. 10 note). On the other hand, man’s
freedom and responsibility are fully recognized: ‘If they walk not therein, judgment is written
down for every creature’ (v. 13): ‘ Beware lest thou walk in their ways, And tread in their paths,
And sin a sin unto death before the Most High God. Else He will give thee back into the hand.
of thy transgression." Even when a man has sinned deeply he can repent and be forgiven (xli.
24 seq.), but the human will needs the strengthening of a moral dynamic: ‘May the Most High
God . . . strengthen thee to do His will’ (xxi. 25, xxii. 10).

The Fail. The effects of the Fall were limited to Adam and the animal creation. Adam was

8 .

INTRODUCTION

‘driven from the garden (iii. 17 seqq.) and the animal creation was robbed of the power of speech

(iii. 28). But the subsequent depravity of the human race is not traced to the Fall but to the
seduction of the daughters of men by the angels, who had been sent down to instruct men (v. 1-4),
and to the solicitations of demonic spirits (vii. 27). The evil engendered by the former was
brought to an end by the destruction of all the descendants of the angels and of their victims by
the Deluge, but the incitement to sin on the part of the demons was to last to the final judgement
(vii. 27, X. I-15, ΧΙ. 4 seq., xii. 20). This last view appears in 1 Enoch and the N.T.

The Law. The law was of eternal validity. It was not the expression of the religious con-
sciousness of one or of several ages, but the revelation in time of what was valid from the beginning
and unto all eternity. The various enactments of the law, moral and ritual, were written on the
heavenly tablets (iii. 31, vi. 17, &c.) and revealed to man through the mediation of angels (i. 27).
This conception of the law, as I have already pointed out, made prophecy impossible unless under
the guise of pseudonymity. Since the law was the ultimate and complete expression of absolute
truth, there was no room for any further revelation: much less could any such revelation, were it
conceivable, supersede a single jot or tittle of the law as already revealed. The ideal of the faithful
Jew was to be realized in the fulfilment of the moral and ritual precepts of this law : the latter were
of no less importance than the former. Though this view of morality tends to be mainly external,
our author strikes a deeper note when he declares that, when Israel turned to God with their whole
heart, He would circumcise the foreskin of their heart and create a right spirit within them and
cleanse them, so that they would not turn away from Him for ever (i. 23). Our author specially
emphasizes certain elements of the law such as circumcision (xvi. 14, xv. 26, 29), the Sabbath
(ii. 18 seq., 31 seq.), eating of blood (vi. 14), tithing of the tithe (xxxii. 10), Feast of Tabernacles
(xvi. 29), Feast of Weeks (vi. 17), the absolute prohibition of mixed marriages (xx. 4, xxii. 20,
xxv. I-10). In connexion with many of these he enunciates halacha which belong to an earlier
date than those in the Mishnah, but which were either modified or abrogated by later authorities.

The Messiah. Although our author is an upholder of the Maccabean dynasty he still clings
like the writer of 1 Enoch Ixxxiii-xc to the hope of a Messiah sprung from Judah. He
makes, however, only one reference to this Messiah, and no réle of any importance is assigned to
him (see Charles’s edition, xxxi. 18 n.). The Messianic expectation showed no vigorous
life throughout this century till it was identified with the Maccabean family. If we are right in
regarding the Messianic kingdom as of temporary duration, this is the first instance in which the
Messiah is associated with a temporary Messianic kingdom.

The Messianic kingdom. According to our author (i. 29, xxiii. 30) this kingdom was to be
brought about gradually by the progressive spiritual development of man and a corresponding
transformation of nature. Its members were to attain to the full limit of 1,000 years in happiness
and peace. During its continuance the powers of evil were to be restrained (xxiii. 29). The last
judgement was apparently to take place at its close (xxiii. 30). This view was possibly derived
from Mazdeism.

The writer of Jubilees, we can hardly doubt, thought that the era of the Messianic kingdom
had already set in. Such an expectation was often cherished in the prosperous days of the
Maccabees. Thus it was entertained by the writer of 1 Enoch Ixxxiii-xc in the days of
Judas before 161 B.C. Whether Jonathan was looked upon as the divine agent for introducing the
kingdom we cannot say, but as to Simon being regarded in this light there is no doubt. Indeed, his
contemporaries came to regard him as the Messiah himself,as we see from Psalm cx, or Hyrcanus in
the noble Messianic hymn in Test. Levi 18. The tame effusion in 1 Macc. xiv. 8-15 is a relic of such
literature, which was emasculated by its Sadducean editor. Simon was succeeded by John Hyrcanus
in 135 B.C. and this great prince seemed to his countrymen to realize the expectations of the past;
for according to a contemporary writer (Test. Levi 8) he embraced in his own person the triple office
of prophet, priest, and civil ruler (xxxi. 15), while according to the Test. Reuben 6 he was to ‘ die
on behalf of Israel in wars seen and unseen’. In both these passages he seems to be accorded the
Messianic office, but not so in our author, as we have seen above. Hyrcanus is only to introduce
the Messianic kingdom, over which the Messiah sprung from Judah is to rule.

Priesthood of Melchizedek. That there was originally an account of Melchizedek in our text
we have shown in the note on xiii. 25, and, that the Maccabean high-priests deliberately adopted the
title applied to him in Gen. xiv, we have pointed out in the note on xxxii. 1. It would be interest-
ing to inquire how far the writer of Hebrews was indebted to the history of the great Maccabean
king-priests for the idea of the Melchizedekian priesthood of which he has made so fruitful a use in
chap. vii as applied to our Lord.

The Future Life. 1n our text all hope of a resurrection of the body is abandoned. The souls
of the righteous will enjoy a blessed immortality after death (xxiii. 31). This is the earliest

THE BOOK ΟΕ JUBILEES

attested instance of this expectation in the last two centuries B.C. It is next found in 1,
Enoch xci-civ.

The Fewish Calendar. For our author's peculiar views see Charles’s edition § 18 and the notes
on vi. 29-30, 32, xv. 1.

Angelology. We shall confine our attention here to notable parallels between our author and
the New Testament. Besides the angels of the presence and the angels of sanctification there are
the angels who are set over natural phenomena (ii. 2). These angels are inferior to the former.
They do not observe the Sabbath as the higher orders ; for they are necessarily always engaged in
their duties (ii. 18). It is the higher orders that are generally referred to in the New Testament ;
but the angels over natural phenomena are referred to in Revelation: angels of the winds in vii, 1, 2,
the angel of fire in xiv. 18, the angel of the waters in xvi. 5 (cf. Jub. ii. 2). Again, the guardian
angels of individuals, which the New Testament refers to in Matt. xviii. τὸ (Acts xii. 15), are
mentioned, for the first time in Jubilees xxxv. 17. On the angelology of our author see Charles’s
edition.

Demonology. The demonology of our author reappears for the most part in the New
Testament :

(a) The angels which kept not their first estate, Jude 6; 2 Peter ii. 4, are the angelic watchers
who, though sent down to instruct mankind (Jub. iv. 15), fell from lusting after the daughters of
men. Their fall and punishment are recorded in Jub. iv. 22, v. 1-9.

(6) The demons are the spirits which went forth from the souls of the giants who were the
children of the fallen angels, Jub. v. 7,9. These demons attacked men and ruled over them (x. 3, 6).
Their purpose is to corrupt and lead astray and destroy the wicked (x. 8). They are subject to the
prince Mastéma (x. 9), or Satan. Men sacrifice to them as gods (xxii. 17). They are to pursue
their work of moral ruin till the judgement of Mastéma (x. 8) or the setting up of the Messianic
kingdom, when Satan will be no longer able to injure mankind (xxiii. 29).

So in the New Testament, the demons are disembodied spirits (Matt. xii. 43-5; Luke xi. 24-6).
Their chief is Satan (Mark iii. 22). They are treated as divinities of the heathen (1 Cor. x. 20).
They are not to be punished till the final judgement (Matt. viii. 29). On the advent of the
Millennium Satan will be bound (Rev. xx. 2--23).

Judgement. The doctrine of retribution is strongly enforced by our author. It is to be individual
and national in this world and in thenext. As regards the individual the law of exact retribution is
according to our author not merely an enactment of human justice—the ancient /er ¢alionts, eye for
eye, tooth for tooth ; it is observed by God in His government of the world. The penalty follows
in the line of the sin. This view is enforced in 2 Macc. v. 10, where it is said of Jason, that, as he
robbed multitudes of the rites of sepulture, so he himself was deprived of them in turn, and in
XV. 32 seq. it is recounted of Nicanor that he was punished in those members with which he had
sinned. So also in our text in reference to Cain iv. 31 seq. and the Egyptians xlviii. 14. Taken
crassly and mechanically the above law is without foundation, but spiritually conceived it repre-
sented the profound truth of the kinship of the penalty to the sin enunciated repeatedly in the New
Testament: ‘Whatsoever a man sows that shall he also reap’ (Gal. vi. 7); ‘he that doeth wrong
shall receive again the wrong that he hath done’ (Col. iii. 25, &c.). Again in certain cases the
punishment was to follow instantaneously on the transgression (xxxvii. 17).

The final judgement was to take place at the close of the Messianic kingdom (xxiii. 30). This
judgement embraces the human and superhuman worlds (v. 10 seq., 14). At this judgement there will
be no respect of persons, but all will be judged according to their opportunities and abilities (v.
15 seq.). From the standpoint of our author there could be no hope for the Gentiles.

§ 16. BIBLIOGRAPHY.

(a) Greek Version: see above, § 4 (a). Ethiopic Version: this text was first edited by Dillmann from two

MSS. cd in 1859, and by R. H. Charles from four MSS. abcd. The Ethiopic Version of the Hebrew Book of Jubilees
. with the Hebrew, Syriac, Greek, and Latin Fragments, Oxford, 1895. Latin Version: see above, ὃ 4 (a).

(ὁ) Translations. Dillmann, Das Buch der Jubiliien .. . aus dem Aethiopischen tibersetzt (Ewald’s Jahrbiicher
d. bibl. Wissensch., 1850-1, ii. 230-56; iii. 1-96). This translation is based on only one MS. Schodde, Zhe Book of
Jubilees, translated from the Ethiopic (‘ Bibliotheca Sacra,’ 1885-7): Charles, 716 Book of Jubilees, translated from
a text based on two hitherto uncollated Ethiopic MSS. (Jewish Quarterly Review, 1893, v. 703-8 ; 1894, vi. 184-217,
710-45 ; 1895, vii. 297-328): Littmann, Das Buch der Jubildéen (Kautzsch’s Apokryphen und Pseudepigraphen des
A. T., 1900, ii. 31-119). This translation is based on Charles’s text.
ἐς () ya aaa Charles, 7he Book of Jubilees, 1902. Rénsch published a Commentary on the Latin Version.

e above, § 4. :

(d) Critical Inquiries. Dillmann, ‘ Pseudepigraphen des A. Τ᾿, Herzog’s Δ᾽, 4.3, xii. 364-5; ‘ Beitrage aus dem
Buche der Jubilaen zur Kritik des Pentateuch-Textes’ (Sttzungsberichte der kg : ms aay Akad., 1883); Beer, Das
Buch der Jubilden, 1856; Singer, Das Buch der Jubilien, 1898; Bohn, ‘Die Pedeutung des Buches der Jubilien’
(Theol. Stud. με. Kritiken, 1900, 167-84). For a full bibliography see Charles’s Commentary or Schiirer.

‘

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES

Moses receives the tables of the law and instruction on past and future history which he ts to inscribe

in a book, 1-4. Apostasy of Israel, 5-9. Captivity of Israel and #ilah, 10-13. Return of
᾿ Fudah and rebuilding of the temple, τ15-π8. Moses’ prayer for Israe’ 14-21. God's promise to
redeem and dwell with them, 22-5, 28. Moses bidden to write down the future history of the
world (the Book of Fubilees ?),26. And an angel to write down the law, 27. This angel takes
the heavenly chronological tablets to dictate therefrom to Moses, 29.

THis is the history of the division of the days of the law and of the testimony, of the events of
the years, of their (year) weeks, of their Jubilees throughout all the years of the world, as the Lord
spake to Moses on Mount Sinai when he went up to receive the tables of the law and of the com-
mandment, according to the voice of God as he said unto him, ‘ Go up to the top of the Mount.’

1: And it came to pass in the first year of the exodus of the children of Israel out of Egypt, in the 2450
third month, on the sixteenth day of the month, that God spake to Moses, saying: ‘Come up to Me Anno
on the Mount, and I will give thee two tables of stone of the law and of the commandment, which Mundi.

2 I have written, that thou mayst teach them.’ And Moses went up into the mount of God, and the

-3 glory of the Lord abode on Mount Sinai, and a cloud overshadowed it six days. And He called

᾿ς to Moses on the seventh day out of the midst of the cloud, and the appearance of the glory of the

4 Lord was like a flaming fire on the top of the mount. And Moses was on the Mount forty days
and forty nights, and God taught him the earlier and the later history of the division of all the days

5 of the law and of the testimony. And He said: ‘Incline thine heart to every word which I shall
speak to thee on this mount, and write them in a book in order that their generations may see how
I have not forsaken them for all the evil which they have wrought in transgressing the covenant

6 which I establish between Me and thee for their generations this day on Mount Sinai. And thus
it will come to pass when all these things come upon them, that they will recognise that I am more
| amie than they in all their judgments and in all their actions, and they will recognise that

_ 7 have been truly with them. And do thou write for thyself all these words which I declare unto

thee this day, for I know their rebellion and their stiff neck, before I bring them into the land
of which I sware to their fathers, to Abraham and to Isaac and to Jacob, saying: ‘ Unto your seed

8 will I give a land flowing with milk and honey. And they will eat and be satisfied, and
they will turn to strange gods, to (gods) which cannot deliver them from aught of their

9 tribulation: and this witness shall be heard for a witness against them. For they will
forget all My commandments, (even) all that I command them, and they will walk after the
Gentiles, and after their uncleanness, and after their shame, and will serve their gods, and these will
το prove unto them an offence and a tribulation and an affliction and a snare. And many will perish

Prologue gives admirable account of contents of the book. At once a history and a chronological system
dominated by sacred number 7. History extends from creation to legislation on Sinai. Thus it embraces Genesis and
part.of Exodus. ΑἹ] is re-written from standpoint of strictest Judaism.

throughout all the years of the world. These words imply intention of the author to write history up to time
of Messianic kingdom. Cf. i. 26.

1. third month, on the sixteenth day of the month. Completes imperfect date of Exod. xix.1. (Same day as
God appears to Jacob on way to Egypt, xliv. 5.) For the rest of the verse cf. Exod. xxiv. 12.

2-4 a. Exod. xxiv. 15-18. :

3. out of. Emended in accordance with Exod. xxiv. 26, })M2 by a change of one letter.

flaming. Change of one vowel would give ‘ devouring’ as in Exod. xxiv. 17.

4. God taught him the earlier and the later history. Cf. i. 26; also Megilla 19 ὁ ‘The Holy One, blessed be
his name, showed to Moses all the minutiae of the law and all that the Sopherim would renew in later times’; so also
Shem. Rabb. 40 (Wiinsche, 282), Menachoth 29 4, Wajikra Rabb. 26 (Beer).

§-1o. Ezra ix. 9, 10,11; Exod. xxiii. 33, xxxili. 1, 3; Deut. xxx. 1-20, xxxi. 19, 20, 24-6, 27; 2 Kings xvii. 7-17.

5. write them, ἄς. Cf. Exod. xxxiv. 27.

how I, ἄς. Cf. Ezra ix. 9.

transgressing. An emendation, sé4é¢6 from ’ashété of bcd.

6. Deut. xxx. I.

7. write. See i. 27 (note), On verse cf. Deut. xxxi. 27; Exod. xxxiii. 3. ᾿

10. Captivity of Israel who had forsaken ‘my sanctuary’, &c. Cf. Deut. xxviii. 15-68, and Lev. xxvi. 14-39.

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 1. 10-25

and they will be taken captive, and will fall into the hands of the enemy, because they have for-
saken My ordinances and My commandments, and the festivals of My covenant, and My sabbaths,
and My holy place which I have hallowed for Myself in their midst, and My tabernacle, and My
sanctuary, which I have hallowed for Myself in the midst of the land, that I should set my name
11 upon it, and that it should dwell (there). And they will make to themselves high places and groves
and graven images, and they will worship, each his own (graven image), so as to go astray, and they
12 will sacrifice their children to demons, and to all the works of the error of their hearts. And I will
send witnesses unto them, that I may witness against them, but they will not hear, and will slay the
witnesses also, and they will persecute those who seek the law, and they will abrogate and change
13 everything so as to work evil before My eyes. And I will hide My face from them, and I will
deliver them into the hand of the Gentiles for captivity, and for a prey, and for devouring, and
I will remove them from the midst of the land, and I will scatter them amongst the Gentiles.
14 And they will forget all My law and all My commandments and all My judgments, and will go
15 astray as to new moons, and sabbaths, and festivals, and jubilees, and ordinances. And after this
they will turn to Me from amongst the Gentiles with all their heart and with all their soul and with
all their strength, and I will gather them from amongst all the Gentiles, and they will seek me, so
16 that I shall be found of them, when they seek me with all their heart and with all their soul. And
I will disclose to them abounding peace with righteousness, and I will tremove them the plant of
uprightnesst}, with all My heart and with all My soul, and they shall be for a blessing and not for
17 a curse, and they shall be the head and not the tail. And I will build My sanctuary in their midst,
and I will dwell with them, and I will be their God and they shall be My people in truth and
19 righteousness. And I will not forsake them nor fail them; for I am the Lord their God.’ And
Moses fell on his face and prayed and said, ‘O Lord my God, do not forsake Thy people and Thy
inheritance, so that they should wander in the error of their hearts, and do not deliver them into the
hands of their enemies, the Gentiles, lest they should rule over them and cause them to sin against
20 Thee. Let thy mercy, O Lord, be lifted up upon Thy people, and create in them an upright spirit,
and let not the spirit of Beliar rule over them to accuse them before Thee, and to ensnare them
21 from all the paths of righteousness, so that they may perish from before Thy face. But they are
Thy people and Thy inheritance, which thou hast delivered with thy great power from the hands
of the Egyptians: create in them a clean heart and a holy spirit, and let them not be ensnared in
22 their sins from henceforth until eternity.’ And the Lord said unto Moses: ‘I know their contrari-
ness and their thoughts and their stiffneckedness, and they will not be obedient till they confess
23 their own sin and the sin of their fathers. And after this they will turn to Me in all uprightness
and with all (their) heart and with all (their) soul, and I will circumcise the foreskin of their heart
and the foreskin of the heart of their seed, and I will create in them a holy spirit, and
I will cleanse them so that they shall not turn away from Me from that day unto eternity.
24 And their souls will cleave to Me and to all My commandments, and they will fulfil My
25 commandments, and I will be their Father and they shall be My children. And they all shall be

11-13. Idolatry and captivity of Judah. Cf. Ezek. xx. 28, 31; 2 Chron. xxxiii. 3, xxviii. 3; 1 En. xcix, 7.
12. I will send witnesses . . . but they will not hear. Cf. 2 Chron. xxiv. 19, xxxvi. 15-16; Jer. xxv. 4; Matt.
xxiii, 34; Luke xi. 49.
but . will slay the witnesses. Neh. ix. 26.
work evil before My eyes. 2 Kings xxi. 15.
13. Cf. xxi. 22; Isa. i. 15; 2 Kings xxi. 14.
for a prey = /ahaéb/ emended from /ahedl.
14. Captive Judah forgets service of God. Cf. Deut. iv. 28, xxviii. 36, 64.
15-17. Repentance of Judah will bring return and rebuilding of the Temple. 15. Deut. iv. 30, 29; Jer. xxix. 13, 14.
16. tremove them the plant of uprightnesst. The expression ‘Plant of uprightness’= Israel from the
outset. Original perhaps is Jer. xxxii. 41. Cf. 1 En. x. 6, xciii. 2, 5, 10. Not improbably ‘in this land’ was lost
after the verb. We might read ΠΡ) for ΛΠ ΠῚ = “1 will plant them in this land.’ Cf. Jer. xxxii. 41. Reversal
of the judgement in 13 is required here.
they shall be for a blessing and not fora curse. Zech. viii. 13.
the head and not the tail. Deut. xxviii. 13; 1 En. ciii. 11.
17. The second Temple. aé >‘their’ before God. Cf. Exod. xxv. 8, xxix. 45; Lev. xxvi. 12; Ezek. xiv. 11;
Jer. xxiv. 7, xxx. 22.
18. Cf. Deut. xxxi. 6.
19. do not forsake ... rule over them. 2 Kings xxi. 14; Deut. ix. 26; Ps. cvi. 41.
20. Ps. li. το. Beliar, see note on xv. 33.
21. Deut. ix. 26, 29. aholy spirit. Cf. i. 23 and xv. 14 (note).
22. Deut. xxxi. 22. confess, ἅς. Lev. xxvi. 40; Neh. ix. 2.
23. turn, &c. 2 Chron. vi. 38. circumcise. Deut. x. 16, xxx.6. I will cleanse them ... eternity. Implies no
more exile for Israel.
24. I will be their Father, ἄς. From 2 Sam. vii. 14; used in 2 Cor. vi. 18 of all Christians. In 2 Sam. vii. 14
these words refer to Solomon. God is the Father of the nation in Deut. xxxii. 6; Isa. Ixiii. 16; Jer. xxxi. 9;
12

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 1. 25—2. 2

illed children of the living God, and every angel and every spirit shall know, yea, they shall know
‘that these are My children, and that I am their Father in uprightness and righteousness, and that
‘Ilove them. And do thou write down for thyself all these words which I declare unto thee on
this mountain, the first and the last, which shall come to pass in all the divisions of the days in the
Jaw and in the testimony and in the weeks and the jubilees unto eternity, until I descend and dwell
7 with them throughout eternity.. And He said to the angel of the presence: ‘ Write for Moses from
} the beginning of creation till My sanctuary has been built among them for all eternity. And the
Lord will appear to the eyes of all, and all shall know that Iam the God of Israel and the Father of
all the children of Jacob, and King on Mount Zion for all eternity. And- Zion and Jerusalem shall
be holy.’ And the angel of the presence who went before the camp of Israel took the tables of the
divisions of the years—from the time of the creation—of the law and of the testimony of the weeks
of the jubilees, according to the individual years, according to all the number of the jubilees
[according to the individual years], from the day of the [new] creation {when} the heavens and the
earth shall be renewed and all their creation according to the powers of the heaven, and according
_to all the creation of the earth, until the sanctuary of the Lord shall be made in Jerusalem on
Mount Zion, and all the luminaries be renewed for healing and for peace and for blessing for all the
elect of Israel, and that thus it may be from that day and unto all the days of the earth.

_ ‘The history of the twenty-two distinct acts of creation on the six days,1-16. Institution of the Sab-

bath: its observance by the highest angels, with whom Israelis afterwards to be associated, 17-32.
(Cf. Gen. i-ii. 3.)

And the angel of the presence spake to Moses according to the word of the Lord, saying:
Write the complete history of the creation, how in six days the Lord God finished all His works
_ and all that He created, and kept Sabbath on the seventh day and hallowed it for all ages, and
2 appointed it as a sign for all His works. For on the first day He created the heavens which are
above and the earth and the waters and all the spirits which serve before him—the angels of the

Cf. also Exod. iv. 22, 23; Deut. xiv. 1; Isa. xliii. 6; Judges ix. 4. In Sir. xxiii. 1; Wisd. ii. 16, &c., it is used
of the righteous individual, elsewhere of righteous Israel. In Jubilees Israelites are God’s children in virtue of their
physical descent from Jacob. Cf. Wisd. xviii. 13. Also Sayings of the Fathers, iii. 22 (Taylor's ed.).

25. children of the living God. Hosea i. to.

_ 26. Moses receives ‘ Jubilees’ as a secret revelation. Cf. esp. 4 Ezra xiv. 6, also Exod. xxxiv. 27-28; Deut. x. 2-4.
Conclusion of this verse implies that history of ‘Jubilees’ is to be brought down to author’s own time—that of the
: Maccabees. Like 1 En. xxv. 3, Ixxvii. 1; Ass, Mos. x; 1 En. xci-civ, he expected God would dwell with man.

_ He lived in hourly expectation of the ‘end of the times’. Like author of ‘ Beast Visions’, 1 En. Ixxxvii-xc, he believed
this would be accomplished by a Messiah, but his Messiah was to spring from Judah, cf. xxxi. 18 ἢ.

27. Angels only accompany Jahweh in Deut. xxxiii. 2, they mediate indirectly in Ezek. xl. 3. Zechariah and Daniel
assign evena larger réletothe angels. Test. Dan. vi further developsthe idea. In N.T. times the ministry of angels has
become the universal means of approaching or hearing from God. Expressly affirmed by Philo, De Sommnits, i. 22,
Josephus, “4712. xy. 5. 3; Paul (Gal. iii. 19), Stephen (Acts vii. 53), and author of ‘ Hebrews’ ii. 2, also Samaritans
(Gesenius, Carm. Sam. 15), De Sacy, xii. 16. Hostility to Christians caused Rabbis to revert to older view in
Shabb. 88 4, Shem. Rabb. 28. The angel here writes, not the Pentateuch, but a history up to the Messianic
kingdom, but Deut. xxviii-xxx may be meant.

28. Read this verse after 25. eyesofall. Cf. Rev. i. 7.

King on Mount Zion. Cf. Isa. xxiv. 23.

29. angel of the presence, derived from Isa. Ixiii.9. Cf. Test. Judah xxv. ; 1 En. xl. 2; probably Michael, Israel’s
guardian angel ; Weber, Jiidische Theologie,? 168; Dan. x. 13, 21, xii. 1; 1 En. xx. 5; 2 En. xxii. 6.

went before, &c. Exod. xiv. 19.

from the day of the [new] creation > ‘new’, inserted wrongly.

twhent > 4. Possibly an interpolation, or a mistake of ὡς for éws; translate ‘until’.

Author as Isa. Ixv. 17, Ixvi. 22; Test. Levi xviii, believed in a gradual transformation of the world, moral and
physical. Perhaps borrowed from Mazdeism (cf. Séderblom, La Vie future d’aprés le Mazdéisme, 254). From
100 B.C. this view was supplanted by the belief in a violent and sudden revolution of things (1 En. xci. 16, xlv. 4;
Apoc. Bar. xxxii. 6, lvii. 2; 4 Ezra vii. 75; 2 Peter iii. 13; Rev. xxi. 1. The author divides this process of renewal

_ into three periods: ist, Deluge, v. 12, 13; 2nd, choice of Israel, i.e. foundation of Hebrew nation, xix, 25, cf. ii. 22 ;
_ 3rd, establishment of Messianic kingdom, cf. i. 29, iv. 26, v.12. This division is wmzgue.
{ renewed for healing, as Rev. xxii. 2.

Il. Cf. Epiphanius, περὶ Μέτρων καὶ Σταθμῶν, xxii; Syncellus (ed. Dindorf, 4); Cedrenus (ed. Bekker, 7); Midrash
Tadshe, vi. 11-16, all based on Jubilees, though the last, like other Jewish writings, postpones creation of angels to
second day (so Ber. Rabb., others fifth, Philo seventh) in order to show gulf between them and God. For full notes
see Charles’ Commentary, pp. 10-12.

2. Cf. Job xxxviii. 7; Hermas, Ms. iii. 4; Epiph. Haer. ἴχν. 4; Rufinus, Zxfos. in Sym. 21.

the angels of the presence, and the angels of sanctification. These two superior classes of angels (i. 19,
ii. 18, xv. 27, xxxi. 14) alone are superior to righteous Israelites. Cf. Sanh. 93; Tanchuma 13; Ber. Rabb. 8.
Epiph. reads ‘ glory’ for ‘sanctification’. But the Lat. xv. 27 has ‘sanctificationis’.
inferior angels are over natural phenomena. Cf. Ps. Ixxvii. 18, civ. 7; 1 En. Ix. 12-21, xxv, Ixxx; 2 En.
_ xix. 1-4; Rev. xiv. 18, iv. 5, vi. 1, vii. 1, &c.
13

ΤΗΕ ΒΟΟΚ ΟΕ JUBILEES 2. 2-20

presence, and the angels of sanctification, and the angels [of the spirit of fire and the angels] of the
spirit of the winds, and the angels of the spirit of the clouds, and of darkness, and of snow and of
hail and of hoar frost, and the angels of the voices and of the thunder and of the lightning, and the
angels of the spirits of cold and of heat, and of winter and of spring and of autumn and of summer,
and of all the spirits of his creatures which are in the heavens and on the earth, (He created) the
abysses and the darkness, eventide (and night), and the light, dawn and day, which He hath

3 prepared in the knowledge of his heart. And thereupon we saw His works, and praised Him, and
lauded before Him on account of all His works; for seven great works did He create on the first day.

4 And on the second day He created the firmament in the midst of the waters, and the waters were
divided on that day—half of them went up above and half of them went down below the firmament
(that was) in the midst over the face of the whole earth. And this was the only work (God) created

5 on the second day. And on the third day He commanded the waters to pass from off the face of
6 the whole earth into one place, and the dry land to appear. And the waters did so as He com-
manded them, and they retired from off the face of the earth into one place outside of this firmament,

, and the dry land appeared. And on that day He created for them all the seas according to their
separate gathering-places, and all the rivers, and the gatherings of the waters in the mountains and
on all the earth, and all the lakes, and all the dew of the earth, and the seed which is sown, and all
sprouting things, and fruit-bearing trees, and trees of the wood, and the garden of Eden, in Eden,

8 and all (plants after their kind). These four great works God created on the third day. And on
the fourth day He created the sun and the moon and the stars, and set them in the firmament of
the heaven, to give light upon all the earth, and to rule over the day and the night, and divide the

9 light from the darkness. And God appointed the sun to be a great sign on the earth for days and
το for sabbaths and for months and for feasts and for years and for sabbaths of years and for jubilees and
for all seasons of the years. And it divideth the light from the darkness [and] for prosperity, that all

11 things may prosper which shoot and grow on the earth. These three kinds He made on the fourth
day. And on the fifth day He created great sea monsters in the depths of the waters, for these were
the first things of flesh that were created by his hands, the fish and everything that moves in the
12 waters, and everything that flies, the birds and all their kind. And the sun rose above them to prosper
(them), and above everything that was on the earth, everything that shoots out of the earth, and all

13 fruit-bearing trees, and all flesh. These three kinds He created on the fifth day. And on the sixth day
14 He created all the animals of the earth, and all cattle, and everything that moves on the earth. And
after all this He created man,a man and a woman created He them, and gave him dominion over all
that is upon the earth, and in the seas, and over everything that flies, and over beasts and over cattle,
and over everything that moves on the earth, and over the whole earth, and over all this He gave
15 him dominion. And these four kinds He created on the sixth day. And there were altogether
16 two and twenty kinds. And He finished all his work on the sixth day—all that is in the heavens
and on the earth, and in the seas and in the abysses, and in the light and in the darkness, and in
17 everything. And He gave us a great sign, the Sabbath day, that we should work six days, but
18 keep Sabbath on the seventh day from all work. And all the angels of the presence, and all the
angels of sanctification, these two great classes—He hath bidden us to keep the Sabbath with Him
1g in heaven and on earth. And He said unto us: ‘Behold, I will separate unto Myself a people from
among all the peoples, and these shall keep the Sabbath day, and I will sanctify them unto Myself
as My people, and will bless them ; as I have sanctified the Sabbath day and do sanctify (it) unto
20 Myself, even so will I bless them, and they shall be My people and I will be their God. And
I have chosen the seed of Jacob from amongst all that I have seen, and have written him down as

[of ... angels] dcd. >a, Epiph.
of snow. So Epiph. αὖ read ‘of all’ >cd.
the. Eth. reads ‘all’, Avellit for ell = ‘these’ = τάς simply.
and night, added from Epiph.
4. Cf. Gen. i. 6-7; 2 En. xxvi-xxvii.
5-14. Cf. Gen. i. 9-28; 2 En. xxx. 1-8.
5. third day + ‘He made as’ MSS.
7. in Eden, or ‘for pleasure’: dittography. Eden created on third day as in ‘ Conflict of Adam and Eve,’ i. 1.
Cf. 2 En. xxx. 1; Ber. rabb. 15.
4 Ezra iii. 6 taught it was ‘ pre-existent’; this became the prevailing view among Jews and Christians. Cf. Weber,
J.T. 198; Jerome, Quaest. Heb. in Gen. ii. 8.
plants after their kind. So Epiph.
g. Author avoids the moon, because it upsets his calendar.
16. on the sixth day. So Gen. ii. 2* (Sam., LXX, Syr. against Mass.).
17-21. The two chief orders of angels like Israel observe the Sabbath: apparently the third order, like the Gentiles,
do not, as they are inferior to Israel.
20. Cf, Isa. xli. 8, xliv. 1,2. Ihave chosen. ‘1 will choose’, Epiph.

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 2, 20-33

My first-born son, and have sanctified him unto Myself for ever and ever ; and I will teach them the
Sabbath day, that they may keep Sabbath thereon from all work.’ And thus He created therein a
sign in accordance with which they should keep Sabbath with us on the seventh day, to eat and to
drink, and to bless Him who has created all things as He has blessed and sanctified unto Himself
22 a peculiar people above all peoples, and that they should keep Sabbath together with us. And He
caused His commands to ascend as a sweet savour acceptable before Him all the days....
3 There (were) two and twenty heads of mankind from Adam to Jacob, and two and twenty kinds of
work were made until the seventh day ; this is blessed and holy ; and the former also is blessed and
holy ; and this one serves with that one for sanctification and blessing. And to this (Jacob and
his seed) it was granted that they should always be the blessed and holy ones of the first testimony
25 and law, even as He had sanctified and blessed the Sabbath day on the seventh day. He created
heaven and earth and everything that He created in six days, and God made the seventh day holy,
for all His works ; therefore He commanded on its behalf that, whoever does any work thereon
26 shall die, and that he who defiles it shall surely die. Wherefore do thou command the children of
Israel to observe this day that they may keep it holy and not do thereon any work, and not to
27 defile it, as it is holier than all other days. And whoever profanes it shall surely die, and whoever
does thereon any work shall surely die eternally, that the children of Israel may observe this day
throughout their generations, and not be rooted out of the land; for it is a holy day and a blessed
28day. And every one who observes it and keeps Sabbath thereon from all his work, will be holy and
29 blessed throughout all days like unto us. Declare and say to the children of Israel the law of this
day both that they should keep Sabbath thereon, and that they should not forsake it in the error of
their hearts ; (and) that it is not lawful to do any work thereon which is unseemly, to do thereon
their own pleasure, and that they should not prepare thereon anything to be eaten or drunk, tand
(that it is not lawful) to draw water, or bring in or take out thereon through their gates any burden,t
3° which they had not prepared for themselves on the sixth day in their dwellings. And they shall
not bring in nor take out from house to house on that day; for that day is more holy and blessed
than any jubilee day of the jubilees ; on this we kept Sabbath in the heavens before it was made
81 known to any flesh to keep Sabbath thereon on the earth. And the Creator of all things blessed
it, but he did not sanctify all peoples and nations to keep Sabbath thereon, but Israel alone: them
32 alone he permitted to eat and drink and to keep Sabbath thereon on the earth. And the Creator
of all things blessed this day which He had created for blessing and holiness and glory above all
33 days. This law and testimony was given to the children of Israel as a law for ever unto their
generations.

My first-born son. Cf. Exod. iv. 22; Ps. Ixxxix. 27; Jer. xxxi. 9.
21. a peculiar people. Cf. Deut. vii.6; Exod. xix.5; Amos iii.12. peculiar. So Eth, easily emended.
22. commands ὁ ἡ

sweet savour. Gen. viii. 21; Exod. xxix. 18; Ezek. xx. 41; 2 Cor. ii. 15; Eph. v. 2.

acceptable before Him. Rom. xii. 1; 1 Tim. ii. 3.
23. Agreement of all authorities proves a lacuna here. Restored text=‘as there were twenty-two letters and
twenty-two sacred books and twenty-two heads of mankind from Adam to Jacob, so there were made twenty-two
kinds of work.’ Combine twelve minor prophets, Judges and Ruth, Ezra and Nehemiah, Jeremiah and Lamentations,
taking Kings, Chronicles, and Samuel as three books, hence twenty-two.

Jacob and the Sabbath are parallel in their exaltation.
25. Cf. Exod. xxxi. 14, 15, xxxv. 2; Numb. xv. 32-6.
27. rooted out. Cf. Deut. xxix. 28.
29. Cf. Isa. lvi. 2, 4; Iviii. 13; Neh. xiii. 15-22. Which is unseemly. Like Littmann, I take za’ijerkawen
za ijastar’i as = WS) 7 we. See also on iii. 15. Or we may connect ‘unseemly’ with the following infinitive,
‘unseemly to do thereon, (even) their own pleasure’, as this is the usual construction after yx", Cf. Esther ii. 9;
Chull. 83.4; Nid. vi. 4.

Law against preparing food deduced from Exod. xvi. 23, xxxv. 3. The order is dislocated here. Either we have

a dittography of 30 or else the law concerning burdens should precede law about preparing food. Latter law in
Ber. 2 4, former in Jer. xvii. 21-7 ; Neh. xiii. 19; Shabb. vii. 2; esp. John v. 10.
30. Chief Jewish festivals observed in heaven. Cf. vi. 18.
31. the Creator of all things blessed it, but He did not sanctify all peoples . . . to keep Sabbath thereon,
but Israelalone. The words or rather the thought of them recurs in the Jewish Prayer Book (ed. Singer), p. 124, ‘O
Lord our God . . . who hast sanctified us .. . and . .. hast given us this holy Sabbath; ’ 139, ‘ Thou didst not give
it unto the nations of other lands,’ &c.
31. it. Restored by a change of punctuation in one letter.

Israel alone privileged and for ever. . Cf. Lev. vii. 36, xxiii. 14; Ex. xxvii. 21.
32. He had created for blessing and holiness and glory. Cf. Jewish Prayer Book, p. 150. ‘This Sabbath day
which Thou hast given us for holiness . . . for honour and for glory.’

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 8. 1-17

Adam names all creatures, 1-3. Creation of Eve and enactment of Levitical laws of purification,
4-14. Adam and Eve in Paradise: their sin and expulsion, 15-29. Law of covering one’s
shame enacted, 30-2. Adam and Eve live in £:ldé, 32-5. (Cf. Gen. ii. 18-25, iii.)

31 And on the six days of the second wee rought, according to the word of God, unto
Adam all the beasts, and all the cattle, and all the birds, and everything that moves on the earth,
and everything that moves in the water, according to their kinds, and according to their types: the
beasts on the first day; the cattle on the second day; the birds on the third day; and all that
which moves on the earth on the fourth day; and that which moves in the water on the fifth day.

2 And Adam named them all by their respective names, and as he called them, so was their name.
3 And on these five days Adam saw all these, male and female, according to every kind that was on
4 the earth, but he was alone and found no helpmeet for him. And the Lord said unto us: ‘It is not
5 good that the man should be alone: let us make a helpmeet for him.’ And the Lord our God
caused a deep sleep to fall upon him, and he slept, and He took for the woman one rib from amongst
6his ribs, and this rib was the origin of the woman from amongst his ribs, and He built
up the flesh in its stead, and built the woman, And He awaked Adam out of his sleep
and on awaking he rose on the sixth day, and He brought her to him, and he knew
her, and said unto her: ‘ This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called
7 [my] wife ; because she was taken from her husband.’ Therefore shall man and wife be one, and
therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and cleave unto his wife, and they shall be
gone flesh. In the first week was Adam created, and the rib—his wife: in the second week He
showed her unto him: and for this reason the commandment was given to keep in their defilement,
g for a male seven days, and for a female twice seven days. And after Adam had completed forty
days in the land where he had been created. we brought him into the garden of Eden to till and
keep it, but his wife they brought in on the eightieth day, and after this she entered into the garden
10 of Eden. And for this reason the commandment is written on the heavenly tablets in regard to her
that gives birth: ‘if she bears a male, she shall remain in her uncleanness seven days according to
the first week of days, and thirty and three days shall she remain in the blood of her purifying, and
she shall not touch any hallowed thing, nor enter into the sanctuary, until she accomplishes these
11 days which (are enjoined) in the case of a male child. But in the case of a female child she shall
remain in her uncleanness two weeks of days, according to the first two weeks, and sixty-six days
12 in the blood of her purification, and they will be in all eighty days.’ And when she had completed
these eighty days we brought her into the garden of Eden, for it is holier than all the earth besides,
13 and every tree that is planted init is holy. Therefore, there was ordained regarding her who bears
a male or a female child the statute of those days that she should touch no hallowed thing, nor
14 enter into the sanctuary until these days for the male or female child are accomplished. This is the
law and testimony which was written down for Israel, in order that they should observe (it) all the
15 days. And in the first week of the first jubilee, Adam and his wife were in the garden of Eden for 1-7
seven years tilling and keeping it, and we gave him work and we instructed him to do everything
16 that is suitable for tillage. And he tilled (the garden), and was naked and knew it not, and was
not ashamed, and he protected the garden from the birds and beasts and cattle, and gathered its
fruit, and eat, and put aside the residue for himself and for his wife [and put aside that which was
17 being kept]. And after the completion of the seven years, which he had completed there, seven 8 a.
years exactly, and in the second month, on the seventeenth day (of the month), the serpent came
and approached the woman, and the serpent said to the woman, ‘Hath God commanded you,

III. 1-16. Gen. ii. 19-25.

3. found, Mass., Sam. ; against LXX, Syr., Vulg. of Gen. ii. 20, ‘was found’.

4. Let us make. So Gen. ii. 18 (LXX, Vulg.). Mass., Sam., Syr., “1 will make’.

5, 6. Cf. Targ. Jon. on Gen. ii. 21, ‘ thirteenth rib.’

6. [my] interpolated from Eth. version, where alone it is found; Mass., Syr., Vulg. > ‘her’.

7. Omits ‘twain’ as Mass., Onk,

8-14. Adopts ancient or invents new legend to explain origin of law of purification after child-birth in Lev. xii. 2-5.
Cf. Conflict of Adam and Eve, i.74; Anastasius Sinaita; Glycas, Chron. 392; Syncell. i. 8-9; Midrash Tadshe xv ;
Eppstein, 2. £. /. (1890), xxxi. 92. For quotations see Charles’ Commentary, 22-4.

10. heavenly tablets. Cf. 1 En. xlvii. 3, Ixxxi. 1, xciii. 2, ciii. 2; Test. Levi v; Test. Asher ii, vii. In En. and
Test. the idea wavers between absolute determinism and prediction pure and simple. .

In Jubilees they are at times a record even for contemporary events (xiv. 9, xxx. 20, xxxi. 32), or a heavenly copy of
levitical laws (iii. 8, 31, iv. 32, v. 13, vi. 17, xv. 25, xvi. 29, xxiv. 33, xxviii. 6, xxii. 15, &c.).

15. Adam seven years in paradise. Sanh, 38 ὁ, Die Schatzhdhle (trans, Bezold), p. 7, says six hours.

God instructs him. »Cf. Isa. xxviii. 26-9; later assigned to Michael (Vit. Ad. xxii) or angels (Ber. Rabb. 24).
suitable. With Littmann I take zajastar’t as = N5. See onii.9. But the ord. sense ‘revealed’ may be right
here.

17-22. Gen. 11]. 1-7.

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 8. 18—4. 3

‘saying, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?’ And she said to it, ‘Of all the fruit of the
trees of the garden God hath said unto us, Eat ; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of

he garden God hath said unto us, Ye shall not eat thereof, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.’
9 And the serpent said unto the woman, ‘ Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that on the day
ye shall eat thereof, your eyes will be opened, and ye will be as gods, and ye will know good and
oevil.. And the woman saw the tree that it was agreeable and pleasant to the eye, and that its fruit
1 was good for food, and she took thereof and eat. And when she had first covered her shame with
figleaves, she gave thereof to Adam and he eat, and his eyes were opened, and he saw that he was
2naked. And he took figleaves and sewed (them) together, and made an apron for himself, and
4 covered his shame. And God cursed the serpent, and was wroth with it for ever.... And He was

wroth with the woman, because she hearkened to the voice of the serpent, and did eat; and He
said unto her: ‘I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy pains: in sorrow thou shalt bring forth
. children, and thy return shall be unto thy husband, and he will rule over thee.’ And to Adam also
he said, ‘ Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which
I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat thereof, cursed be the ground for thy sake: thorns
and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat thy bread in the sweat of thy face, till
thou returnest to the earth from whence thou wast taken ; for earth thou art, and unto earth shalt
6 thou return.” And He made for them coats of skin, and clothed them, and sent them forth from
»4 the Garden of Eden. And on that day on which Adam went forth from the Garden, he offered as
_ a sweet savour an offering, frankincense, galbanum, and stacte, and spices in the morning with the
8 rising of the sun from the day when he covered his shame. And on that day was closed the mouth
_ of all beasts, and of cattle, and of birds, and of whatever walks, and of whatever moves, so that they
_ could no longer speak: for they had all spoken one with another with one lip and with one tongue.
And He sent out of the Garden of Eden all flesh that was in the Garden of Eden, and all flesh was
scattered according to its kinds, and according to its types unto the places which had been created
ο for them. And to Adam alone did He give (the wherewithal) to cover his shame, of all the beasts and
g1 cattle. On this account, it is prescribed on the heavenly tablets as touching all those who know the
_ judgment of the law, that they should cover their shame, and should not uncover themselves as the
32 Gentiles uncover themselves. And on the new moon of the fourth month, Adam and his wife went 8 a.m.
33 forth from the Garden of Eden, and they dwelt in the land of :lda in the land of their creation. And
34 Adam called the name of his wife Eve. And they had no son till the first jubilee, and after this he
knew her. Now he tilled the land as he had been instructed in the Garden of Eden.

Cain and Abel and other children of Adam, 1-12. Enos, Kenan, Mahalalel, fared, 13-15. Enoch
and his history, 16-25. Four sacred places,26. Methuselah, Lamech, Noah, 27,28. Death of
Adam and Cain, 29-32. Shem, Ham, and Faphet, 32. (Cf. Gen. iv-v.)

4: And in the third week in the second jubilee* she gave birth to Cain, and in the fourth” she 64-70 aM.
_ 2 gave birth to Abel, and in the fifth ° she gave birth to her daughter Awan. And in the first (year) of 71-77 a.m.
the third jubilee,t Cain slew Abel because (God) accepted the sacrifice of Abel, and did not accept 78-84 a.m.

3 the offering of Cain. And he slew him in the field: and his blood cried from the ground to heaven, 99~1054-.M.

23. Lacuna: supply from Syncell. i. 14; Targ., Ps.-Jon. on Gen. iii. 14, Midrash Koheleth some statement to the
effect that the serpent’s feet were cut off. Cf. Joseph. Azz. i. 1. 4.
24. Follows Gen. iii. 16 (LXX).
25-6. Gen. iii. 17-19, 21, 24.
25. thy bread. So LXX. Mass., Sam. > ‘thy’.
wast taken, /ansh@éka corrupt, as often, for fanash@ cha.
27. Adam’s.incense-offering antedates Exod. xxx. 34.
day ...he covered his shame. Cf. Exod. xx. 26, xxviii. 42. Beer 41 suggests he was thinking of priests at the

28. A common Jewish belief. Cf. Joseph. Ant. i. 1.4; Conflict of Adam and Eve, i. 18; Philo, Quaest. in Gen.
i, 32. Our text is quoted by Syncell. i. 14; Cedren. i. 9, 10; Zonaras, i. 23. Original language was said to be Hebrew
(xii 25; cf. Jerus. 7 Se on Gen. xi. 1; Ber. ταῦ. 18; Jerahmeel, xxxviii. 11) ; or Syriac (Die Schatzhihle, Theodoret,
Ephraem); or Greek (Eutychius; 2 En. xxx. 13; Or. Sibyll. iii. 24-6); or Aramaic, since Adam wrote Ps.
exxxix (Sanh. 384; but Shabb. 12 ὁ says angels do not understand Aramaic).

31. Good indication of date. Author protests against following Greeks in stripping for the games. Cf. 1 Macc.
i. 13, 14; 2 Macc. iv. 12-14; Joseph. Amz, xii. 5. 1.

,.32. *E1da, corrupt for ath, ‘land of nativity,’ as Onk. and Ps.-Jon. in Gen. iii,23.. So ‘creation’ is a rendering of

34- No marriage in Eden. Cf. Die Schatzhohie, p. 7.
IV. 1. No two early authorities agree in the names of Adam’s daughters. :
Syncell. i. 14 dates Cain’s birth in 70 A.M., Abel’s in 77, ‘ Asouam’s’ (= AwaAn’s) in 85, and puts Abel's sacrifice
at 22 years of age, i. 6. 99 A.M.
2-3. Cf. Gen. iv. 4, 5, 8, 10.
1105.2 17 ς

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 4. 4-20

4 complaining because he had slain him. And the Lord reproved Cain because of Abel, because he
had slain him, and he made him a fugitive on the earth because of the blood of his brother, and he
5 cursed him upon the earth. And on this account it is written on the heavenly tables, ‘Cursed is
he who smites his neighbour treacherously, and let all who have seen and heard say, So be it; and
6 the man who has seen and not declared (it), let him be accursed as the other.’ And for this reason
we announce when we come before the Lord our God all the sin which is committed in heaven and
7 on earth, and in light and in darkness, and everywhere. And Adam and his wife mourned for
Abel four weeks of years, and in the fourth year of the fifth week they became joyful, and Adam 1
knew his wife again, and she bare him a son, and he called his name Seth; for he said ‘GOD has —
8 raised up a second seed unto us on the earth instead of Abel; for Cain slew him.’ And in the sixth
g week he begat his daughter Azra. _And_ Cain took Awan his sister to be his wife and_she bare 1
him -clese-of-the-fourth—jubilee. And in the first-year of the first week-ofthe—fifth 1
jubilee, houses were built on the earth, and Cain built a city, and called its name after the name of 1
10, 1mhis son Enoch. And Adam knew Eve his wife and she bare yet nine sons. And in the fifth week 2
of the fifth jubilee Seth took Azira his sister to be his wife, and in the fourth (year of the sixth 23
12, 13 week) she bare him Enos. He began to call on the name of the Lord on the earth. And in the
seventh jubilee in the third week Enos took Néam his sister to be his wife, and she bare him a son 3
14 in the third year of the fifth week, and he called his name Kenan, And at the close of the eighth 32
jubilee Kenan took Mfaléléth his sister to be his wife, and she bare him a son in the ninth jubilee, 3
15 in the first week in the third year of this week, and he called his name Mahalalel. And in the 3
second week of the tenth jubilee Mahalalel took unto him to wife Dinah, the daughter of Baraki?él 4.
the daughter of his father’s brother, and she bare him a son in the third week in the sixth year, and 46
he called his name Jared ; for in hi the angels of the Lord descended on the earth, those who
are named the Watchers, that they should instruct the children of men, and that they should do
τό judgment and uprightness-on-the-earth, And in the eleventh jubilee-Jared took to himself a wife, 51
and her name was Baraka, the-daughter of Rasijal,a_daughter of. his fathere oe fourth
week of this jubilee, and-she bare him a son in the fifth weck, in the fourth year of the jubilee, and 5?
17 he-catled his name Enoch, ) And he was the first among tnen that-ace nen cassis sal
writing and knowledge and wisdom and who wrote down the signs of heaven according. to the order
of their months in a book, that men might know the seasons of the years according to.the. order of
18 their separate months. _And_ he was.the first_to write ἃ testimony, and he testified to the sons of
men among the generations.of the-earth, and recounted the weeks of the jubilees;and made known
to them the days of the years, and set.in-order the months and recounted the Sabbaths.of the years
19 as;We made (them), kfidwn to him. And what was and what will be he saw in a vision of his sleep,
as it will happen to the children of men throughout their generations until the day of judgment ; he
saw and understood everything, and wrote his testimony, and placed the testimony on earth for all
20 the children of men and for their generations. And in the twelfth jubilee, in the seventh week 58

3. complaining. Cf. Gen. iv. 10; 1 En. xxii. 5, 6.

4. Eth. zz, a bad transliteration of Hebrew 93, ‘ fugitive,’ Gen. iv. 12.

6. Cf. Intr. to 2 Enoch xxxiv, Charles’ edition.

7-8. Usually the mother names the child in Genesis, father in ‘Jubilees’, as Sam. in Gen, iv. 25. Exceptions are
Gen, iv. 26, v. 29, xxv. 25, 26, Exod. ii. 22.

9. Enoch. Cf. Gen. iv. 17; Syncell. i. 16; Jashar, 96.

1o. nine sons, quoted by Epiph. Haer. xxxix. 6. Jashar speaks of three; Syncell. i. 18 and Vit. Ad. of thirty-three.

11. ( ) supplied acc. to Syncell. i. 17.

12. Gen.iv.26. Originally as here myn was taken ina good sense. Cf. Joseph. Amt. i. 3. 1, LXX, Syr., but Jerome,
and later Rabbis, e.g. Ber. Rabb. 23, Jashar ii. 1090, ‘Chronicles of Jerahmeel’ xxiv. 9, xxvi. 20, Shabb, 118 ὁ, and_
Onk. take as implying ceasing from prayer or beginning idolatry.

15. Read ‘father’s brother’ for ‘ father’s sister’ with Greek MS. 7 on Gen. v. 15 and Syriac Fragment.

Jared . . . descended, play on words in Hebrew.

angels of the Lord descended on the earth. Gen. vi. 1-4; Is. xxiv. 21. True interpretation here as in
1 Enoch vi. 2 (Greek), Test. of XII Patr., Philo, Jude, 2 Peter, and Epiphanius. Subsequently to Christians, ‘sons of
God’ become ‘children of Seth ;’ first in Julius Africanus, emphatically in Chrysostom, Homilies, Augustine, De Civ.
Dei, xv, Jerome, Comm. in Ps. cxxxii, Eutychius, Syncellus, Dre Schatshihle, Conflict of Adam and Eve, esp. bk. iii, iv,
Zonaras, Glycas. Later Jewish authors (Onkelos, Symmachus, Ps.-Jon., Ber. rabb., Jashar, &c.) made them into
‘mighty men’, ‘judges’, &c. By this means Enoch’s greatness was transferred to Seth by Christians, just as to
Moses, Ezra, Elijah, by Jews.

Watchers, as in Dan. iv. 13, 17, 23; 1 En. i. 5, xx. 1; 2 En. vii, xviii.

17-23. Shows the parts.of Enoch books which were known to our author. Cf. 1 En. vi-xvi, xxiii-xxxvi, lxxii-xc.

17. For ‘ Enoch the scribe’ see 1 En. xii. 3,4. Contrast 1 En. Ixix. 8.

18. Enoch does not deal with ‘ weeks of jubilees’, &c. See Jub. vii. 37, xxi. 10 (note).

19. This vision is that in 1 En. lxxxiii-xc. Name of his wife and nature of his dream are the same in both, also
ascetic tone (vision seen before marriage). 1

18 i

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES ‘4. 20-33

thereof, he took to himself a wife, and her name was Edni, the daughter of Danél, the daughter of
his father’s brother, and in the sixth year in this week she bare him a son and he called his name 587 a.m.
τ Methuselah. And he was moreover with the angels of God these six jubilees of years, and they
_ showed him ev. which is on earth and in the heavens, the rule of the sun, and he wrote down
12 eV; ing. And he testified to the Watchers, who had sinned_with.the daughters of men; for
_ “these had begun to unite themselves, so as to be defiled, with the daughters of men, and Enoch

emnation and judgment of the world, and all the wickedness of the children of me nd on

ee τ Sat ge seater of the flood upon all the land of Eden ; for there he was set
a sign and that he should testify against all the children of men, that he should recount all the
2 ἐσεῖς of the generations until the day of condemnation. And he burnt the incense of the sanctuary,
26 (even) sweet spices acceptable before the Lord on the Mount. For the Lord has four places on the
earth, the Garden of Eden, and the Mount of the East, and this mountain on which thou art this
day, Mount Sinai,and Mount Zion (which) will be sanctified in the new creation for a sanctification
of the earth ; through it will the earth be sanctified from all (its) guilt and its uncleanness through-
27 out the generations of the world. And in the fourteenth jubilee Methuselah took unto himself 652 a.m.
a wife, Edna the daughter of ’Azrial, the daughter of his father’s brother, in the third week, in the
28 first year of this week, and he begat a son and called his name Lamech. And in the fifteenth 7o1-7 a.m.
jubilee in the third week Lamech took to himself a wife, and her name was Béténds the daughter of
Barak7il, the daughter of his father’s brother, and in this week she bare him a son and he called his
name Noah, saying, ‘ This one will comfort me for my trouble and all my work, and for the ground
29 which the Lord hath cursed.’ And at the close of the nineteenth jubilee, in the seventh week in 930 «.m.
| the sixth year thereof, Adam died, and all his sons buried him in the land of his creation, and he
Ϊ 30 was the first to be buried in the earth. And he lacked seventy years of one thousand years; for
one thousand years are as one day in the testimony of the heavens and therefore was it written
concerning the tree of knowledge: ‘On the day that ye eat thereof ye shall die.’ For this reason he
_ 31 did not complete the years of this day ; for he died during it. At the close of this jubilee Cain was
if killed after him in the same year; for his house fell upon him and he died in the midst of his house,
᾿ς πᾶ he was killed by its stones ; for with a stone he had killed Abel, and by a stone was he killed in
_ 32 tighteous judgment. For this reason it was ordained on the heavenly tablets: ‘ With the instru- -
____‘ ment with which a man kills his neighbour with the same shall he be killed ; after the manner that
_ 33 he wounded him, in like manner shall they deal with him.’ And in the twenty-fifth jubilee Noah 1203 a.m.
took to himself a wife, and her name was ‘Emzara, the daughter of Raké’él, the daughter of his
father’s brother, in the first year in the fifth week: and in the third year thereof she bare him 1207 a.m.
Shem, in the fifth year thereof she bare him Ham, and in the first year in the sixth week she bare 1209 a.m.
_ him Japheth. 1212 A.M.

21, 22. Refer to 1 En. xii—xvi, xxiii-xxxvi.
23. Points to tradition like that at base of 1 En. Ixx. Enoch is heavenly scribe here as in 2 En. xxiii. 1-3.
Cf. also 1 En. xii. 3; 2 En. xl. 13; liii. 2; Ixiv. 5.
Garden of Eden, as in 1 En. Ixx. 1-3; 2 En. lxvii. 2.
24. Cf. 2 En. xxxiv. 3; Test. Naph. 4.
25. guatr corrupt for guctaré, ‘ sweet spices.’ Cf. Exod. xxx. 7.
_26. Four abodes of God on earth. ‘ Mountain of the East’, uncertain; either Mount Ephraim (Rapoport, ΖΜΟ,
xi. 730-33, implying Samaritan authorship) or Lubar on Ararat (Rénsch, pp. 505-6); or mount above Eden where
> Sethites live (in Die Schatzhihle, Conflict of Adam and Eve, &c.); or ‘throne of, God’ in τ En. xviii. 6, xxiii. 1, xxxii. 1.
A 27. father’s brother. Emended as in iv. 15.
28. Cf. Gen. v.29. ? Noah born in 707 as Sam. Chron. The explanation of Noah’s name is much elaborated in
Jashar 134; Ber. Rabb. 25.
29. Cf. iii. 32.
30. one thousand years ... one day. 2 Pet. iii.8; Ep. Barn. xv; 2 En. xxxiii; Justin, Dial. c. Tryph. Ixxxi,
and Lactant. Jnstitution. vii. 14.
On the day, &c. Cf. Gen. ii. 17.

31-2. Two legends exist of Cain’s death. This is the earlier, quoted in Syncell. i. 19; Cedren. i. 16. Law of exact
retribution enforced by Cain’s fate; cf. Exod. xxi. 24; Lev. xxiv. 19. Beer says this law was unknown to traditional
' Judaism in cases of murder; but cf. 2 Macc. v. 10, xv. 32. [τ reaches the ideal in Gal. vi. 7; Col. iii. 25 and Gospel
ξ parables of ‘ Dives and Lazarus’ and ‘ Unforgiving Debtor’. The later legend makes Lamech slay Cain.

33. Shem really oldest in Gen. x. 21: so Vulg., Sanh. 69 ὁ.

ware «

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 5. 22

The angels of God marry the daughters of men, 1. Corruption of all creation, 2-3. Punishment of
the fallen angels and their children, 4-9 a. Final judgment announced, 9 b-16. Day of Atone-_
ment, 17-18. The deluge foretold, Noah builds the ark, the deluge, t9-32. (Cf. Gen. vi-viii.

19.)

5: And it came to pass when the children of men—began-to. multiply on the face of the earth
and daughters were born unto them, that theangels of God\saw them on a certain year of this
jubilee, that they were beautiful to look upon; Ἐπ they took themselves wives of all whom they

2 Se ae bare unto them sons and they were giants. And lawlessness“increased on thé
and all flesh corrupted its way, alike men and cattle and beasts and birds and everything that
walks on the earth—all of them corrupted their ways and their orders, and they began to devour
each other, and lawlessness increased on the earth and every imagination of the thoughts of all men

3 (was) thus evil continually. And God looked upon the earth, and behold it was corrupt, and all
flesh had corrupted its orders, and all that were upon the earth had wrought all manner of evil

4 before His eyes. And He said that He would destroy man and all flesh upon the face of the earth

5, 6 which He had created. But Noah found grace before the eyes of the Lord. And against the
angels whom He had sent-upon the.earth, He was exceedingly wroth, and He gave commandment
toroot them out of all their dominion, and He bade us to bind them in the depths of the earth, and

7 behold they are bound in the midst of them, and are (kept) separate. And against their sons went
forth a command from before His face that they should be smitten with the sword, and be removed

8 from -under-heaven. And He said ‘ My spirit shall not always abide on man ; for they also are flesh

9 and their days shall be one hundred and twenty years’. And He sent His sword into their midst
that each should slay his neighbour, and they began to slay each other till they all fell by the sword

1o and were destroyed from the earth. And their fathers were witnesses (of their destruction), and
after this they were bound in the depths of the earth for ever, until the day of the great condemna-
tion, when judgment is executed on all those who have corrupted their ways and their works before
11 the Lord. And He jdestroyed} all from their places, and there twas} not left one of them whom
12 He judged not according to all their wickedness. And he tmadej for all his works a new and
righteous nature, so that they should not sin in their whole nature for ever, but should be all
13 righteous each in his kind alway. And the judgment of all is ordained and written on the heavenly
tablets in righteousness—-even (the judgment of) all who depart from the path which is ordained for
them to walk in; and if they walk not therein, judgment is written down for every creature and
14 for every kind. And there is nothing in heaven or on earth, or in light or in darkness, or in Sheol
or in the depth, or in the place of darkness (which is not judged); and all their judgments are
15 ordained and written and engraved. In regard to all He will judge, the great according to his
16 greatness, and the small according to his smallness, and each according to his way. And He is not
one who will regard the person (of any), nor is He one who will receive gifts, if He says that He will
execute judgment on each: if one gave everything that is on the earth, He will not regard the
17 gifts or the person (of any), nor accept anything at his hands, for He is a righteous judge. [And
of the children of Israel it has been written and ordained: If they turn to him in righteousness, _
18 He will forgive all their transgressions and pardon all their sins. It is written and ordained that
19 He will show mercy to all who turn from all their guilt once each year.] And as for all those who
corrupted their ways and their thoughts before the flood, no man’s person was accepted save that of
Noah alone; for his person was accepted in behalf of his sons, whom (God) saved from the waters
of the flood on his account ; for his heart was righteous in all his ways, according as it was com-
20 manded regarding him, and he had not departed from aught that was ordained for him. And the
Lord said that he would destroy everything which was upon the earth, both men and cattle, and
21 beasts, and fowls of the air, and that which moveth on the earth. And He commanded Noah to
22 make him an ark, that he might save himself from the waters of the flood. And Noah made the

ark in all respects as He commanded him, in the twenty-seventh jubilee of years, in the fifth week 1307

V. Parallel to Gen. vi-viii. 19. Cf. 1 En. vi. 1, 2, vii. 5, x. 12, Ixxxix. 3.

3. wrought all manner of evil. See Ethiopic text.

4. that He would, ἄς. So MSS. dc.

11-12. Corruption of tense probable in Hebrew; the ‘new creation’ is still in the future.

16. Cf. Deut. x. 17; 2 Chron. xix. 7.

17-18. Interpolated, or, transposed from xxxiv. 18-19.

18. The Day of Atonement blots out all sins for the truly penitent (contrary to Lev. xvi. 21 ; Yoma viii. 9).

19. Cf. Gen. xviii, 23-32.

22. Read ‘twenty-seventh’ for ‘twenty-second’.
20

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 5, 23—6. 10

3 in the fifth year (on the new moon of the first month). And he entered in the sixth (year) thereof, 1308 A.M.

in the second month, on the new moon of the second month, till the sixteenth ; and he entered, and

all that we brought to him, into the ark, and the Lord closed it from without on the seventeenth

evening.

24 tad the Lord opened seven flood-gates of heaven,

And the mouths of the fountains of the great deep, seven mouths in number.

And the flood-gates began to pour down water from the heaven forty days and forty nights,

And the fountains of the deep also sent up waters, until the whole world was full of water.

And the waters increased upon the earth:

Fifteen cubits did the waters rise above all the high mountains,

And the ark was lift up above the earth,

And it moved upon the face of the waters.

27 And the water prevailed on the face of the earth five months—one hundred and fifty days.

29 And the ark went and rested on the top of Laibar, one of the mountains of Ararat. And (on the

_ new moon) in the fourth month the fountains of the great deep were closed and the flood-gates of

heaven were restrained ; and on the new moon of the seventh month all the mouths of the abysses

30 of the earth were opened, and the water began to descend into the deep below. And on the new

moon of the tenth month the tops of the mountains were seen, and on the new moon of the first 1309 A.M.

31 month the earth became visible. And the waters disappeared from above the earth in the fifth
_ week in the seventh year thereof, and on the seventeenth day in the second month the earth was dry.

And on the twenty-seventh thereof he opened the ark, and sent forth from it beasts, and cattle, and

birds, and every moving thing.

Sacrifice of Noah, 1-3 (cf. Gen. viii. 20-2). God's covenant with Noah, eating of blood forbidden,
4-10 (cf. Gen. ix. 1-17). Moses bidden to renew this law against the eating of blood, 11-14.
Bow set in the clouds for a sign,15-16. Feast of weeks instituted, history of its observance, 17-22.
Feasts of the new moons, 23-8. Division of the year into 364 days, 29-38.

And on the new moon of the third month he went forth from the ark, and built an altar on
2 that mountain. And he made atonement for.the earth, and took a kid and made atonement by its

blood for all the guilt of the earth; for everything that had been on it had been destroyed, save
3 those that were in the ark with Noah. And he placed the fat thereof on the altar, and he took an
ox, and a goat, and a sheep and kids, and salt, and a turtle-dove, and the young of a dove, and
placed a burnt sacrifice on the altar, and poured thereon an offering mingled with oil, and sprinkled
__ wine and strewed frankincense over everything, and caused a goodly savour to arise, acceptable before

4the Lord. And the Lord smelt the goodly savour, and He made a covenant with him that there
should not be any more a flood to destroy the earth ; that all the days of the earth seed-time and
harvest should never cease ; cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night should not
5 change their order, nor cease for ever. ‘And you, increase ye and multiply upon the earth, and
become many upon it, and be a blessing upon it. The fear of you and the dread of you I will
6 inspire in everything that is on earth and in the sea. And behold I have given unto you all beasts,

and all winged things, and everything that moves on the earth, and the fish in the waters, and all
7 things for food ; as the green herbs, I have given you all things to eat. But flesh, with the life
thereof, with the blood, ye shall not eat ; for the life of all flesh is in the blood, lest your blood of
your lives be required. At the hand of every man, at the hand of every (beast) will I require the
8 blood of man. Whoso sheddeth man’s blood by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of
9, 10 God made He man. And you, increase ye, and multiply on the earth.’ And Noah and his sons

_ 28. Laibar, in Armenia (Sayce); the Babylonian Noah rested on Mount Nizir, in the Lulubi of the Assyrian
inscriptions.
29. Gen. viii. 2. Cf. 1 En, Ixxxix. 7.
30. Gen. viii. 5, 13.
31. The earth became dry exactly one year after Noah entered the ark. In Gen. viii. 14 this is on the twenty-
seventh, not the seventeenth day. Lagarde’s LXX MS. z on Gen. viii. 14 quotes part of 31 and 32; also the date in
vi. 1.
VI. 1. Cf. xiv. 1, xliv. 1 (events on same date). Ber. Rabb. 34 placed Noah’s altar at Jerusalem.
2. Cf. Lev. xviii. 26; Num. xxxv. 33, but they give no exact parallels.
3. Gen. viii. 20, expanded by Lev. ii. 2, 5; Exod. xxix. 40.

acceptable, jdshamer for text jéshamer.
4-7. God’s covenant with Noah, as Gen. viii, ix.
5. be a blessing for ‘ multiply’ in Gen. ix. 7.
upon. Text m#ekala corrupt for /é‘eléhd.
10-14, Noah’s covenant is completed and confirmed by the Mosaic one in same month. Cf. Exod. xix. I.

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 6. 11-31

swore that they would not eat any blood that was in any flesh, and he made a covenant before the -
11 Lord God for ever throughout all the generations of the earth in this month. On this account He

spake to thee that thou shouldst make a covenant with the children of Israel in this month upon the
mountain with an oath, and that thou shouldst sprinkle blood upon them because of all the words
12 of the covenant, which the Lord made with them forever. And this testimony is written concerning
you that you should observe it continually, so that you should not eat on any day any blood of beasts
or birds or cattle during all the days of the earth, and the man who eats the blood of beast or of
cattle or of birds during all the days of the earth, he and his seed shall be rooted out of the land.
13 And do thou command the children of Israel to eat no blood, so that their names and their seed
14 may be before the Lord our God continually. And for this law there is no limit of days, for it is
for ever. They shall observe it throughout their generations, so that they may continue suppli-
cating on your behalf with blood before the altar; every day and at the time of morning and

evening they shall scek forgiveness on your behalf perpetually before the Lord that they may keep_

15 it and not be rooted out. And He gave to Noah and his sons a sign that there should not again
16 be a flood on the earth. He set His bow in the cloud for a sign of the eternal covenant that there
17 should not again be a flood on the earth to destroy it all the days of the earth. For this reason it
is ordained and written on the heavenly tablets, that they should celebrate the feast of weeks in this
18 month once a year, to renew the covenant every year. And this whole festival was celebrated in
heaven from the day of creation till the days of Noah—twenty-six jubilees and five weeks of years:
and Noah and his sons observed it for seven jubilees and one week of years, till the day of Noah’s
death, and from the day of Noah’s death his sons did away with (it) until the days of Abraham, and
19 they eat blood. But Abraham observed it, and Isaac and Jacob and his children observed it up to
thy days, and in thy days the children of Israel forgot it until ye celebrated it anew on this mountain.
zo And do thou command the children of Israel to observe this festival in all their generations for a
21 Commandment unto them: one day in the year in this month they shall celebrate the festival. For
it is the feast of weeks and the feast of first fruits: this feast is twofold and of a double nature:
22 according to what is written and engraven concerning it, celebrate it. For I have written in the
book of the first law, in that which I have written for thee, that thou shouldst celebrate it in its
season, one day in the year, and I explained to thee its sacrifices that the children of Israel should
remember and should celebrate it throughout their generations in this month, one day in every year.
23 And on the new moon of the first month, and on the new moon of the fourth month, and on the

new moon of the seventh month, and on the new moon of the tenth month are the days of remem- ~

brance, and the days of the seasons in the four divisions of the year. These are written and ordained
24 as a testimony for ever. And Noah ordained them for himself as feasts for the generations for ever,
25 30 that they have become thereby a memorial unto him. And on the new moon of the first month
he was bidden to make for himself an ark, and on that (day) the earth became dry and he opened
26 (the ark) and saw the earth. And on the new moon of the fourth month the mouths of the depths
of the abyss beneath were closed. And on the new moon of the seventh month all the mouths of
27 the abysses of the earth were opened, and the waters began to descend intothem. And on the new
28 moon of the tenth month the tops of the mountains were seen, and Noah was glad. And on this
account he ordained them for himself as feasts for a memorial for ever, and thus are they ordained.
29 And they placed them on the heavenly tablets, each had thirteen weeks; from one to another

(passed) their memorial, from the first to the second, and from the second to the third, and from the —

30 third to the fourth. And all the days of the commandment will be two and fifty weeks of days, and
(these will make) the entire year complete. Thus it is engraven and ordained on the heavenly
31 tablets. And there is no neglecting (this commandment) for a single year or from year to year.

11, 14. Proper use of blood in daily sacrifice. Cf. Num. xxviii. 3-8.

17-18. the feast of weeks is connected with Noah’s covenant here only. Later it is ascribed to Moses. The
name ‘ Pentecost’ (2 Macc. xii. 32; Tobit ii. 1; 1 Cor. xvi. 8) is not yet in use.

21. Cf. Num, xxviii. 26.

celebrate, gedard, emended from gébré, ‘its celebration.’

22. one day = first day (Eppstein), i.e. of the week. Pentecost was to be on a Sunday every year. Cf. xlix. 7, 8.

23. The four great days of the year have a religious significance here, but an astronomical one in 1 En. Ixxv. 1, 2,
Ixxxii, 11 (intercalary days). Cf. Ezek. xlvi. 6; Rosh ha-Shanah,i.1. They are associated here with patriarchal
events. Cf. iii. 32, v. 29, vi. 26, xvi. I, xxviii. 24, xlv. 1, xii. 16, xiii. 8, xxviii. 14, &c.

_ 26-7. Gen. viii. 2, 5; 1 En. lxxxix. 7, 8.

_29-30. Solar year of 364 days (cf. iv. 17, v. 27, xii. 16) = 12 months of 30 days and 4 intercalary days. Eppstein, on
vi. 32 (Revue des Etudes Juives xxii. 10-13), suggests that Jubilees uses two calendars—the second being a parallel
ecclesiastical year, a multiple of 7; ive. 13 months of 28 days. Cf. vi. 22,28. On the great difficulties connected
with the calendar of our author and of pre-Christian Judaism see my Commentary 77 /oc.

—

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 6. 32—7. 11

d command thou the children of Israel that they observe the years according to this reckoning—
_ three hundred and sixty-four days, and (these) will constitute a complete year, and they will not
disturb its time from its days and from its feasts; for everything will fall out in them according to
3 their testimony, and they will not leave out any day nor disturb any feasts. But if they do neglect
and do not observe them according to His commandment, then they will disturb all their seasons,
and the years will be dislodged from this (order), [and they will disturb the seasons and the years
4 will be dislodged] and they will neglect their ordinances. And all the children of Israel will forget,
and will not find the path of the years, and will forget the new moons, and seasons, and sabbaths,
35 and they will go wrong as to all the order of the years. For I know and from henceforth will I
declare it unto thee, and it is not of my own devising; for the book (lies) written before me, and
on the heavenly tablets the division of days is ordained, lest they forget the feasts of the covenant
36 and walk according to the feasts of the Gentiles after their error and after their ignorance. For
there will be those who will assuredly make observations of the moon—how (it) disturbs the
seasons and comes in from year to year ten days too soon. For this reason the years will come
upon them when they will disturb (the order), and make an abominable (day) the day of testimony,
and an unclean day a feast day, and they will confound all the days, the holy with the unclean, and
the unclean day with the holy ; for they will go wrong as to the months and sabbaths and feasts and
38 jubilees. For this reason I command and testify to thee that thou mayst testify to them ; for after
thy death thy children will disturb (them), so that they will not make the year three hundred and
sixty-four days only, and for this reason they will go wrong as to the new moons and seasons and
sabbaths and festivals, and they will eat all kinds of blood with all kinds of flesh.

Noah plants a vineyard and offers a sacrifice, 1-5. Becomes drunk and exposes his person, 6-9. The
cursing of Canaan and blessing of Shem and Fapheth, 10-12 (cf. Gen. ix. 20-8). Noah's sons
and grandsons and their cities,13-19. Noah teaches his sons regarding the causes of the deluge
and admonishes them to avoid the eating of blood and murder, to keep the law regarding fruit
trees and let the land lie fallow every seventh year, as Enoch had directed, 20-39.

And in the seventh week in the first year thereof, in this jubilee, Noah planted vines on
the mountain on which the ark had rested, named Lifbar, one of the Ararat Mountains, and they
produced fruit in the fourth year, and he guarded their fruit, and gathered it in this year in the
2seventh month. And he made wine therefrom and put it into a vessel, and kept it until the fifth
3 year, until the first day, on the new moon of the first month. And he celebrated with joy the day

of this feast, and he made a burnt sacrifice unto the Lord, one young ox and one ram, and seven

sheep, each a year old, and a kid of the goats, that he might make atonement thereby for himself
4and his sons. And he prepared the kid first, and placed some of its blood on the flesh that was on

the altar which he had made, and all the fat he laid on the altar where he made the burnt sacrifice,
5 and the ox and the ram and the sheep, and he laid all their flesh upon the altar. And he placed

all their offerings mingled with oil upon it, and afterwards he sprinkled wine on the fire which he
is had previously made on the altar, and he placed incense on the altar and caused a sweet savour to
6 ascend acceptable before the Lord his God. And he rejoiced and drank of this wine, he and his

7 children with joy. And it was evening, and he went into his tent, and being drunken he lay down
8 and slept, and was uncovered in his tent as he slept. And Ham saw Noah his father naked, and
_ gwent forth and told his two brethren withcut. And Shem took his garment and arose, he and
} Japheth, and they placed the garment‘on their shoulders and went backward and covered the shame
; το of their father, and their faces were backward. And Noah awoke from his sleep and knew all that
his younger son had done unto him, and he cursed his son and said: ‘Cursed be Canaan; an
_ trenslaved servant shall he be unto his brethren.’ And he blessed Shem, and said: ‘ Blessed be the

32. The impossible number 364 as in 1 En. lxxiv. 10, lxxv. 2; 2 En. xlviii, is probably due to dogmatic considera-
tions ; to make the festivals fall on the same day of the week from year to year. Contrast 2 En. xiv. 1 (‘ 3654 days’).

Bacon, Hebraica, viii. 79-88, 124-39 (1891-2), shows that the same causes operated on the authors of the Deluge
story in P. The flood lasted ove year in the Chaldaean account—this was a lunar year of 354 days but P makes it last
one year and ten days; 1.6. a year of 364 days.

34. Cf. 1 En. Ixxxii. 4-6.

35. not of my own devising. Cf. Num. xvi. 8; Apoc. Bar, xiv. 11.

421, seq.).

VII. 3. Cf. ritual of Num. xxix. 2, 5.

5. acceptable. Emended as in vi. 3.

6-12. Gen. ix. 21-7 (LXX).

9. Text restored by emending gatsimi into gabi’émii.

᾿

36. Cf. ii. ο, iv. 21. Contrast 1 En. lxxiv. 12; Sam. Chronicle (Neubauer, Journal Asiatigue (1869), xiv, no. lv.

1317 AM.

1320 A.M.
1321 A.M.

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 7. 12-33

12 Lord God of Shem, and Canaan shall be his servant. God shall enlarge Japheth, and God shall
13 dwell in the dwelling of Shem, and Canaan shall be his servant.’ And Ham knew that his father
had cursed his younger son, and he was displeased that he had cursed his son, and he parted from
14 his father, he and his sons with him, Cush and Mizraim and Put and Canaan. And he built for
15 himself a city and called its name after the name of his wife N@élatama’ik. And Japheth saw it,
and became envious of his brother, and he too built for himself a city, and he called its name after
16 the name of his wife ’Adatanésés. And Shem dwelt with his father Noah, and he built a city close
to his father on the mountain, and he too called its name after the name of his wife Sédéqétélébab,
17 And behold these three cities are near Mount Libar ; Sédégétélébab fronting the mountain on its
18 east; and Na’éltama’fk on the south; ’Adatan’ésés towards the west. And these are the sons of
Shem: Elam, and Asshur, and Arpachshad—this (son) was born two years after the flood—and
19 Lud, and Aram. The sons of Japheth: Gomer and Magog and Madai and Javan, Tubal and
20 Meshech and Tiras: these are the sons of Noah. And in the twenty-eighth jubilee Noah began to r
enjoin upon his sons’ sons the ordinances and commandments, and all the judgments that he knew, 13)
and he exhorted his sons to observe righteousness, and to cover the shame of their flesh, and to
bless their Creator, and honour father and mother, and love their neighbour, and guard their souls
21 from fornication and uncleanness and all iniquity. For owing to i came the flood
upon the earth, namely, owing to the fornication wherein the Watchers against the law of t
ordinancés went a whoring after the daughters of men, and took themselves-wives-of-all which they
22 chosé? and they-made the beginning of uncleanness. And-they begat sons the Naphtdtm>and
pune ease all-soliket,-and they devoured one another: and the Giants slew the Naphil, an
23 Naphil slew the Elj6,and the Elj6 mankind, and one man another. And every one sold himself
24 to work iniquity andto.shed.much blood, and the earth was filled with iniquity..And_after this
they sinned against the beasts and birds, and all that moves and walks on the earth: and m
blood was shed on the earth, and every imagination and desire of men imagined vanity “and evil
25 continually. And the Lord destroyed everything from off the face of the earth ; because of the
wickedness of their deeds, and because of the blood which they had shed in the midst of the earth
26 He destroyed everything. ‘And we were left, I and you, my sons, and everything that entered
_with us into the ark, and behold I see your works before me that ye do not walk in righteousness ;
for in the path of destruction ye have begun to walk, and ye are parting one from another, and are
envious one of another, and (so it comes) that ye are not in harmony, my sons, each with his brother.
27 For I see, and behold the demons have begun (their) seductions against you and against your children,
and now I fear on your behalf, that after my death ye will shed the blood of men upon the earth,
28 and that ye, too, will be destroyed from the face of the earth. For whoso sheddeth man’s blood,
and whoso eateth the blood of any flesh, shall all be destroyed from the earth.

29 And there shall not be left any man that eateth blood,
Or that sheddeth the blood of man on the earth,
Nor shall there be left to him any seed or descendants living under heaven;

For into Sheol shall they go,
And into the place of condemnation shall they descend,
And into the darkness of the deep shall they all be removed by a violent death.

30. There shall be no blood seen upon you of all the blood there shall be all the days in which ye
have killed any beasts or cattle or whatever flies upon the earth, and work ye a good work to your
31 souls by covering that which has been shed on the face of the earth. And ye shall not be like him
who eats with blood, but guard yourselves that none may eat blood before you: cover the blood,
32 for thus have I been commanded to testify to you and your children, together with all flesh. And
suffer not the soul to be eaten with the flesh, that your blood, which is your life, may not be required
33 at the hand of any flesh that sheds (it) on the earth. For the earth will not be clean from the blood

13. Gen. x. 6.
16. Shem is the good son.
18. Unintelligible text restored by a few slight changes.
20-39. Fragment of lost ‘ Book of Noah’. Cf. Epiph. Azcorat. cxii.
Our author has left unchanged the 1st persons of the verbs in verses 26-39.
21. These three things. Almost the three cardinal sins. Cf. Gen. vi. 2; 1 En. vii. 1; Ber. Rabb. 31.
22. Three classes of giants. Cf. 1 En. vii. 1 (Greek), I::xxvi. 4, Ixxxviii. 2.
were unlike, perhaps better ‘ plundered’ or ‘ strove’ (by slight emendations).
23. 1 Kings xxi. 20; 1 En. ix. 1-9, vii. 5, Ixxxvii. 1.
24. they sinned against. Cf. 1 En. vii. 5, by means of which the text is emended.
29. Used by 1 En. ciii. 7-8,

—_—_ a

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 7. 34—8. 11

_which has been shed upon it; for (only) through the blood of him that shed it will the earth be
34 purified throughout all its generations. And now, my children, hearken: work judgment and
_ righteousness that ye may be planted in righteousness over the face of the whole earth, and your
glory lifted up before my God, who saved me from the waters of the flood. And behold, ye will go
and build for yourselves cities,and plant in them all the plants that are upon the earth, and moreover
6 all fruit-bearing trees. For three years the fruit of everything that is eaten will not be gathered:
and in the fourth year its fruit will be accounted holy [and they will offer the first-fruits], acceptable
before the Most High God, who created heaven and earth and all things. Let them offer in
abundance the first of the wine and oil (as) first-fruits on the altar of the Lord, who receives it, and
37 what is left let the servants of the house of the Lord eat before the altar which receives (it). And
in the fifth year

___ make ye the release so that ye release it in righteousness and uprightness, and ye shall be righteous,
38 and all that you plant shall prosper. For thus did Enoch, the father of your father command
Methuselah, his son, and Methuselah his son Lamech, and Lamech commanded me all the things
39 which his fathers commanded him. And I also will give you commandment, my sons, as Enoch
commanded his son in the first jubilees: whilst still living, the seventh in his generation, he com-
manded and testified to his son and to his son’s sons until the day of his death.’

Kédindm discovers an inscription relating to the sun and stars,1-4. His sons, 5-8. Noah’s sons and
Noah divide the earth, 10-11. Shem’s inheritance, 12-21: Ham's, 22-4: Fapheth’s, 25-30.
(Cf. Gen. x.)

34- who saved me, &c. Probably read by 2 Peter ii. 5.
may be planted. Emended by Dillmann by a change of one vowel.

36. Beer says this was the view of Ibn Ezra, Caraites, and Samaritans, concerning the fruit of the fourth year. The
law in Lev. xix. 23-4 seems rather exacting. Our translation agrees with it in reading ‘will be accounted holy’
(4c; ‘ will be gathered’ a2), but this interpretation is contrary to the ordinary view of Josephus, Azz. iv. 8. 19, &c.

37. Lacuna here. Laws about fruit should be continued. : ;

39. the seventh. Cf. 1 En. Ix. 8, xciii. 3; Jude 14. See on xxi. 10 for the attribution of halachoth to Enoch.

VIII. 5. Madai emended with Syr. Frag. and Lagarde’s Greek MS. γι: μελχα Ovyar da. Text here corrupt.
Play on words Shelah, ‘sent’. : ἘΡ" Peleg? in ἕ ees ea ἡ
9-10, The secret division of the earth is followed by an authoritative compact. The object here is to vindicate the
Hebrew invasion of Palestine, as the rightful inheritance of sons of Shem. Cf. similar accounts in Epiph. Azcorat.
cxii; Adv. Haer. 11. ii. 544; Chron. Paschale i. 53; Jerahmeel xxxi. 2; Syncell. i. 82; Cedren. i. 23.

1 In the twenty-ninth jubilee, in the first week, in the beginning thereof“Arpachsh Look to 1 373 AM.

1569 A.M.

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 8. 12-29

12 And there came forth on the writing as Shem’s lot the middle of the earth which he should take as
an inheritance for himself and for his sons for the generations of eternity, from the middle of the
mountain range of ΔΙΆ, from the mouth of the water from the river Tina, and his portion goes
towards the west through the midst of this river, and it extends till it reaches the water of the
abysses, out of which this river goes forth and pours its waters into the sea Mé’at, and this river
flows into the great sea. And all that is towards the north is Japheth’s, and all that is towards the

13 south belongs to Shem. And it extends till it reaches Karas6: this is in the bosom of the tongue

14 which looks towards the south. And his portion extends along the great sea, and it extends ina
straight line till it reaches the west of the tongue which looks towards the south; for this sea is

15 named the tongue of the Egyptian Sea. And it turns from here towards the south towards the.
mouth of the great sea on the shore of (its) waters, and it extends to the west to ‘Afra, and it
extends till it reaches the waters of the river Gihon, and to the south of the.waters of Gihon, to the

16 banks of this river. And it extends towards the east, till it reaches the Garden of Eden, to the
south thereof, [to the south] and from the east of the whole land of Eden and of the whole east, it
turns to the feast} and proceeds till it reaches the east of the mountain named Rafa, and it descends

17 to the bank of the mouth of the river Tina. This portion came forth by lot for Shem and his sons,

18 that they should possess it for ever unto his generations for evermore. And Noah rejoiced that this
portion came forth for Shem and for his sons, and he remembered all that he had spoken with his
mouth in prophecy ; for he had said:

‘Blessed be the Lord God of Shem,
And may the Lord dwell in the dwelling of Shem.’

19 And he knew that the Garden of Eden is the holy of holies, and the dwelling of the Lord, and Mount
Sinai the centre of the desert, and Mount Zion—the centre of the navel of the earth: these three

20 were created as holy places facing each other. And he blessed the God of gods, who had put the

21 word of the Lord into his mouth, and the Lord for evermore. And he knew that a blessed portion
and a blessing had come to Shem and his sons unto the generations for ever—the whole land of
Eden and the whole land of the Red Sea,and the whole land of the east, and India,and on the Red
Sea and the mountains thereof, and all the land of Bashan, and all the land of Lebanon and the ©
islands of Kaftar, and all the mountains of Sanir and ’Amana, and the mountains of Asshur in the
north, and all the land of Elam, Asshur, and Babél, and Sfis4n and Ma‘édai, and all the mountains
of Ararat. and all the region beyond the sea, which is beyond the mountains of Asshur towards the

22 north, a blessed and spacious land, and all that is in it is very good. And for Ham came forth the
second portion, beyond the Gihon towards the south to the right of the Garden, and it extends
towards the south and it extends to all the mountains of fire, and it extends towards the west to the
sea of ’Atél and it extends towards the west till it reaches the sea of Ma’ik—that (sea) into which

23 yeverything which is not destroyed descendst. And it goes forth towards the north to the limits of
Gadir, and it goes forth to the coast of the waters of the sea to the waters of the great sea till it
draws near to the river Gihon, and goes along the river Gihon till it reaches the right of the Garden

24 οἵ Eden. And this is the land which came forth for Ham as the portion which he was to occupy

25 for ever for himself and his sons unto their generations for ever. And for Japheth came forth the
third portion beyond the river Tina to the north of the outflow of its waters, and it extends north-

26 easterly to the whole region of Gog and to all the country east thereof. And it extends northerly
to the north, and it extends to the mountains of Qélt towards the north, and towards the sea of |

27 Ma’ik, and it goes forth to the east of Gadir as far as the region of the waters of the sea. And it
extends until it approaches the west of Fara and it returns towards ’Afér4g, and it extends easterly

28 to the waters of the sea of Mé’at. And it extends to the region of the river Tina in a north-easterly
direction until it approaches the boundary of its waters towards the mountain Rafa, and it turns

29 round towards the north. This is the land which came forth for Japheth and his sons as the portion
of his inheritance which he should possess for himself and his sons, for their generations for ever ;

12. Palestine, middle of the earth, as Ezek. xxxviii. 12; 1 En. xxvi. 1; Sanh. 37 a.
Rafa = Ural Mountains. Tina = Tanais or Don. Mé’at = Maeotis or Sea of Azov.

13. Karas6 = Chersonese (Dillmann), or Rhinocorura on Egyptian border, perhaps more likely.

15. ‘Afra = Africa in early limited sense. Gihon = the Nile, as Jer. ii. 18, Shihor; Sir. xxiv. 27.

16. Read ‘north’ for ‘ south’.

18-19. The three ‘Abodes of God’ are in Shem's portion. Cf. iv. 26.

21. Kaftér or Kamiatiiri, either Crete or Cyprus or Cilicia or Cappadocia (Amos ix. 7, LXX) or Coptos, a city in
the upper Thebaid. Safir or Senir (Deut. iii. 9; Ezek. xxvii. 5) is Hermon. ‘Amana is Antilibanus or Mt. Amanus.
Ma‘édai is Media.

22-24. Ham’s portion: vague limits in Asia. ’Atél = Atlantic? Ma’aik = Oceanus. Gdadir = Cadiz. .

25-29. Japheth’s portion. Gog = Scythians (Josephus). Qélt = Celts. ’Aférag? = Phrygia.

THE BOOK ΟΕ JUBILEES 8. 30—10. 3

0 five great islands, and a great land in the north. But it is cold, and the land of Ham is hot, and
the land of Shem is neither hot nor cold, but it is of blended cold and heat.

_ Subdivision of the three portions amongst the grandchildren of Noah. Amongst Ham's children, \ :
Shem’s 2-6: Fapheth’s, 7-13. Oath taken by Noah’s sons, 14-15.

1x And Ham divided amongst his sons, and the first portion came forth for Cush towards the
east, and to the west of him for Mizraim, and to the west of him for Put, and to the west of him
2 [πᾶ to the west thereof] on the sea for Canaan. And Shem also divided amongst his sons, and
the first portion came forth for Elam and his sons, to the east of the river Tigris till it approaches
the east, the whole land of India, and on the Red Sea on its coast, and the waters of Dédan, and
all the mountains of Mebri and ’ElA4, and all the land of Stisan and all that is on the side of Pharnak
3 to the Red Sea and the river Tina. And for Asshur came forth the second portion, all the land of
4 Asshur and Nineveh and Shinar and to the border of India, and it ascends and skirts the river. And
for Arpachshad came forth the third portion, all the land of the region of the Chaldees to the east of
the Euphrates, bordering on the Red Sea, and all the waters of the desert close to the tongue of the
_ sea which looks towards Egypt, all the land of Lebanon and Sanir and ’Amana to the border of the
6 Euphrates. And for Aram there came forth the fourth portion, all the land of Mesopotamia

between the Tigris and the Euphrates to the north of the Chaldees to the border of the mountains
6 of Asshur and the land of ’Arara. And there came forth for Lud the fifth portion, the mountains
of Asshur and all appertaining to them till it reaches the Great Sea, and till it reaches the east of
7, 8 Asshur his brother. And Japheth also divided the land of his inheritance amongst his sons. And
the first portion came forth for Gomer to the east from the north side to the river Tina; and in the
north there came forth for Magog all the inner portions of the north until it reaches to the sea of
9 Meé’at. And for Madai came forth as his portion that he should possess from the west of his two
zo brothers to the islands, and to the coasts of the islands. And for Javan came forth the fourth
11 portion every island and the islands which are towards the border of Lud. And for Tubal there
came forth the fifth portion in the midst of the tongue which approaches towards the border of the
portion of Lud to the second tongue, to the region beyond the second tongue unto the third tongue.
12 And for Meshech came forth the sixth portion, all the region beyond the third tongue till it
13 approaches the east of Gadir. And for Tiras there came forth the seventh portion, four great
᾿ς islands in the midst of the sea, which reach to the portion of Ham [and the islands of Kamatiri
_ 14 came out by lot for the sons of Arpachshad as his inheritance]. And thus the sons of Noah divided
unto their sons in the presence of Noah their father, and he bound them all by an oath, imprecating
_ 15 4 Curse on every one that sought to seize the portion which had not fallen (to him) by his lot, And
they all said, ‘So be it; so be it,’ for themselves and their sons for ever throughout their generations
till the day of judgment, on which the Lord God shall judge them with a sword and with fire, for
all the unclean wickedness of their errors, wherewith they have filled the earth with transgression
and uncleanness and fornication and sin.

Evil spirits lead astray the sons of Noah, 1-2. Noah's prayer, 3-6. Mastémé allowed to retain one-
tenth of his subject spirits,7-11. Noah taught the use of herbs by the angels for resisting the
demons, 12-14. Noah dies, 15-17. Building of Babel and the confusion of tongues, 18-27.
Canaan seizes on Palestine, 29-34. Madai receives Media, 35-6.

Ji And in the third week of this jubilee the unclean demons began to lead astray {the children oft

2the sons of Noah, and to make to err and destroy them. And the sons of Noah came to Noah

_ their father, and they told him concerning the demons which were leading astray and blinding and
3 slaying his sons’ sons. And he prayed before the Lord his God, and said :

29. five islands, as 1 En. lxxvii. 8.
30. Epiphanius makes this heat of his country Canaan’s reason for seizing Palestine.

ΙΧ, τ. Cf. Gen. x. 6. Cush = Ethiopia. Mizraim = Egypt. Put = Libya.

2. Elam, from Red Sea to Pontus, includes India,

3. skirts. Text corrupt, but easily emended.

9. Madai’s lot embraces Britain (Epiph., Syncell., Jerahmeel).

10, Javan = Ionia, here all islands of Aegean.

12, ‘Three tongues,’ Probably Italy, Greece, Thrace.

13. Tiras = Aegean sea-coast, or Thracians (Josephus). [ ] interpolated from ix. 4.

X. Another fragment of ‘Apocalypse of Noah’, part of Hebrew original in Jellinek, Bet ha-Midrasch, iv. 155.
1. unclean demons: cf. 1 En. xv-xvi; souls of children of disobedient ‘ watchers’.

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 10. 3-22

‘God of the spirits of all flesh, who hast shown mercy unto me,
And hast saved me and my sons from the waters of the flood, ‘
And hast not caused me to perish as Thou didst the sons of perdition ;

For Thy grace has been great towards me,
And great has been Thy mercy to my soul;

Let Thy grace δε lift up upon my sons,
And let not wicked spirits rule over them
Lest they should destroy them from the earth.

4 But do Thou bless me and my sons, that we may increase and multiply and replenish the earth.
5 And Thou_k -how~Fhy-Watchers, the fathers.of these spirits, acted in my day: and_as for
these spirits which are living, imprison them and hold them fast in the place of condemnation, and

\ let them not bring destruction on the sons of thy servant, my God; for these are malignant, and
ay 6 created in order to destroy. And let them_not_rule over the spirits of the Tiving ; f ne

‘canst €xércise dominion over them. And let them not have power over the sons of the righteous
7: ὃ from-hencef nd for evermore. And the Lord our God bade us to bind all. And the chief of >
" “the sits Masttmty came and said: ‘Lord, Creator, let some of them remain before me, and let
᾿ them hearken to my voice, and do all that I.shall say unto them; for if some of them are not left
Ἷ to me, I shall not be able to execute the power of my will on the sons of men; for these are for
corruption and leading astray before my judgment, for great is the wickedness of the sons of men.’
9 And He said: ‘Let the tenth part of them remain before him, and let nine parts descend into the
10 place of condemnation. And one of us He commanded that we should teach Noah all their
11 medicines ; for He knew that they would not walk in uprightness, nor strive in righteousness. And
we did according to all His words: all the malignant evil ones we bound in the place of condemna-
12 tion, and a tenth part of them we left that they might be subject before Satan on the earth. And
we explained to Noah all the medicines of their diseases, together with their seductions, how he
13 might heal them with herbs of the earth. And Noah wrote down all things in a book as we
) instructed him concerning every kind of medicine. Thus the evil spirits were precluded from
14 (hurting) the sons of Noah. And he gave all that he had written to Shem, his eldest son; for he
15 loved him exceedingly above all his sons. And Noah slept with his fathers, and was buried on
16 Mount Labar in the land of Ararat. Nine hundred and fifty years he completed in his life, nineteen 165¢
17 jubilees and two weeks and five years. And in his life on earth he excelled the children of men
save Enoch because of the righteousness, wherein he-was-perfeet-—For Enoch’s office was ordained

ς
:

and she bare him a son in the fourth year of this week, and he called his name Reu; for he said:
‘Behold the children of men have become evil through the wicked purpose of building for themselves
19 a city and a tower in the land of Shinar.’ For they departed from the land of Ararat eastward to
Shinar ; for in his days they built the city and the tower, saying, ‘Go to, let us ascend thereby into
20 heaven.’ And they began to build, and in the fourth week they made brick with fire, and the bricks
served them for stone, and the clay with which they cemented them together was asphalt which
21 comes out of the sea, and out of the fountains of water in the land of Shinar. And they built it: 164
forty and three years were they building it ; its breadth was 203 bricks, and the height (of a brick) 1
was the third of one; its height amounted to 5433 cubits and 2 palms, and (the extent of one wall
22 was) thirteen stades (and of the other thirty stades). And the Lord our God said unto us: ‘ Behold,
they are one people, and (this) they begin to do, and now nothing will be withholden from them.
Go to, let us go down and confound their language, that they may not understand one another's
speech, and they may be dispersed into cities and nations, and one purpose will no longer abide with

3. God of the spirits of all flesh. Cf. Num. xvi. 22, xxvii. 16. sons of perdition: 2 Thess. ii. 3.

6. camst... them: sudnnend lémn emended from kuennanéhimt.

8. Mastéma (Hos. ix. 7, 8) = ‘enmity’ = Mastiphat (-m) (Syncell., Cedren.), Mansemat (Acts of Philip, ed. Tisch.
p- 98). The demons, as in 1 Enoch, are accusers, seducers, and destroyers. In xv. 32, xvi. 18, xix. 28, Israel is
declared free from them; here he falls from this hope to talk of spells, charms, &c. Shem, as priest, receives these
from Noah; cf. xlv. 16. ;

9. The tenth here is a modification of 1 En. xv—xvi (‘all’).

18. δα... evil. A.play on words in the Hebrew.

19. Cf. Gen. xi. 2; Epiph. Haer. i. 1. 5.

20, 21. Text without emendations unintelligible.

21. Quoted by Eutychius 51, Glycas 240, Nicephorus i. 175, &c. For the emendations see my text, pp. 36-7.

22. Gen. xi. 6.

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 10. 23—11. 9

3 them till the day of judgment.’ And the Lord descended, and we descended with him to see the
4city and the tower which the children of men had built. And he confounded their language, and
they no longer understood one another’s speech, and they ceased then to build the city and the
5 tower. For this reason the whole land of Shinar is called Babel, because the Lord did there
_ confound all the language of the children of men, and from thence they were dispersed into their
26 cities, each according to his language and his nation. And the Lord sent a mighty wind against
the tower and overthrew it upon the earth, and behold it was between Asshur and Babylon in the
7 land of Shinar, and they called its name ‘Overthrow’. In the fourth week in the first year in the
_ beginning thereof in the four and thirtieth jubilee, were they dispersed from the land of Shinar.
28 And Ham and his sons went into the land which he was to occupy, which he acquired as his portion
9 in the land of the south. And Canaan saw the land of Lebanon to the river of Egypt, that it was
very good, and he went not into the land of his inheritance to the west (that is to) the sea, and he
dwelt in the land of Lebanon, eastward and westward from the border of Jordan and from the border
30 of the sea. And Ham, his father, and Cush and Mizraim, his brothers said unto him: ‘Thou hast
settled in a Jand which is not thine, and which did not fall to us by lot: do not do so; for if thou
dost do so, thou and thy sons will fall in the land and (be) accursed through sedition ; for by sedition
31 ye have settled, and by sedition will thy children fall, and thou shalt be rooted out for ever. Dwell
32 not in the dwelling of Shem; for to Shem and to his sons did it come by their lot. Cursed art
thou, and cursed shalt thou be beyond all the sons of Noah, by the curse by which we bound our-
33 selves by an oath in the presence of the holy judge, and in the presence of Noah our father.’ But
he did not hearken unto them, and dwelt in the land of Lebanon from Hamath to the entering of
4; 35 Egypt, he and his sons until this day. And for this reason that land is named Canaan. And
Japheth and his sons went towards the sea and dwelt in the land of their portion, and Madai saw
the land of the sea and it did not please him, and he begged a (portion) from Elam and Asshur and
Arpachshad, his wife’s brother, and he dwelt in the land of Media, near to his wife’s brother until
36this day. And he called his dwelling-place, and the dwelling-place of his sons, Media, after the
name of their father Madai.

Reu and Serug, τ (cf. Gen. xi. 20, 21). Rise of war and bloodshed and eating of blood and
idolatry, 2-7. Nachor and Terah, 8-14 (cf. Gen. xi. 22-30). Abram's knowledge of God and
wonderful deeds, 15-24.

4: And in the thirty-fifth jubilee, in the third week, in the first year thereof, Reu took to himself
a wife, and her name was ’Ord, the daughter of ’Ur, the son of Késéd, and she bare him a son, and
2 he called his name Séréh, in the seventh year of this week in this jubilee. And the sons of Noah
began to war on each other, to take captive and to slay each other, and to shed the blood of men
on the earth, and to eat blood, and to build strong cities, and walls, and towers, and individuals
(began) to exalt themselves above the nation, and to found the beginnings of kingdoms, and to go
to war people against people, and nation against nation, and city against city, and all (began) to do
evil, and to acquire arms, and to teach their sons war, and they began to capture cities, and to sell
_ 3 male and female slaves. And ’Ur, the son of Késéd, built the city of ’Ara of the Chaldees, and
4 called its name after his own name and the name of his father. And they made for themselves
molten images, and they worshipped each the idol, the molten image which they had made for
themselves, and they began to make graven images and unclean simulacra, and malignant spirits
5 assisted and seduced (them) into committing transgression and uncleanness. And the prince
Mastéma exerted himself to do all this, and he sent forth other spirits, those which were put under
his hand, to do all manner of wrong and sin, and all manner of transgression, to corrupt and destroy,
6 and to shed blood upon the earth. For this reason he called the name of Séréh, Serug, for every one
7 turned to do all manner of sin and transgression. And he grew up,and dwelt in Ur of the Chaldees,
near to the father of his wife’s mother, and he worshipped idols, and he took to himself a wife in the
thirty-sixth jubilee, in the fifth week, in the first year thereof,and her name was MélkA, the daughter
8 of Kabér, the daughter of his father’s brother. And she bare him Nahor, in the first year of this
_ week, and he grew and dwelt in Ur of the Chaldees, and his father taught him the researches of the
9 Chaldees to divine and augur, according to the signs of heaven. And in the thirty-seventh jubilee,

25. Gen. xi. 9.
26. This story occurs also in Orac. Sibyl. iii. 98-103; Joseph. Ant. i. 4. 3, &c.; Syncell. i. 77; Cedren. i. 22.
29. This story comes only here and in dependent authorities ; e.g. Clem. Recogz. i. 30.

XI. τ. Sér6h. Heb. ND, ‘turn aside’,
2-6. Cf. Book of Adam and Eve iii. 24 for corruption of mankind.

1688 A.M.

1681 A.M.

1687 A.M.

1744 AM.

1800 A.M.

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 11. 10—12. 3

in the sixth week, in the first year thereof, he took to himself a wife, and her name was ‘Ijaska, the
ro daughter of Néstag of the Chaldees. And she bare him Terah in the seventh year of this week. 1
11 And the prince Mastéma sent ravens and birds to devour the seed which was sown in the land, in
order to destroy the land, and rob the children of men of their labours. Before they could plough
12 in the seed, the ravens picked (it) from the surface of the ground. And for this reason he called
his name Terah because the ravens and the birds reduced them to destitution and devoured their
13 seed. And the years began to be barren, owing to the birds, and they devoured all the fruit of the
trees from the trees: it was only with great effort that they could save a little of all the fruit of the
14 earth in their days. And in this thirty-ninth jubilee, in the second week in the first year, Terah 18
took to himself a wife,and her name was ’Edna, the daughter of Abram, the daughter of his father’s
15 Sister. And in the seventh year of this week she bare him a son, and he called his name Abram, 18
by the name of the father of his mother ; for he had died before his daughter had conceived a son.
16 And the child began to understand the errors of the earth that all went astray after graven images _
and after uncleanness, and his father taught him writing, and he was two weeks of years old, and he t
17 separated himself from his father, that he might not worship idols with him. And he began to pray
to the Creator of all things that He might save him from the errors of the children of men, and that
18 his portion should not fall into error after uncleanness and vileness. And the seed time came for
the sowing of seed upon the land, and they all went forth together to protect their seed against the
rg ravens, and Abram went forth with those that, went, and the child was a lad of fourteen years. And
a cloud of ravens came to devour the seed, and Abram ran to meet them before they settled on the
ground, and cried to them before they settled on the ground to devour the seed, and said, ‘ Descend
5ο ποῖ: return to the place whence ye came,’ and they proceeded to turn back. And he caused the
clouds of ravens to turn back that day seventy times, and of all the ravens throughout all the land
21 where Abram was there settled there not so much as one. And all who were with him throughout
all the land saw him cry out, and all the ravens turn back, and his name became great in all the
22 land of the Chaldees. And there came to him this year all those that wished to sow, and he went
with them until the time of sowing ceased: and they sowed their land, and that year they brought
23 enough grain home and eat and were satisfied. And in the first year of the fifth week Abram taught 189
“those who made implements for oxen, the artificers in wood, and they made a vessel above the
ground, facing the frame of the plough, in order to put the seed thereon, and the seed fell down
therefrom upon the share of the plough, and was hidden in the earth, and they no longer feared the
24,ravens. And after this manner they made (vessels) above the ground on all the frames of the

ploughs, and they sowed and tilled all the land, according as Abram commanded them, and they
no longer feared the birds.

Abram seeks to turn Terah from idolatry, 1-8. Marries Sarai, 9. Haran and Nachor, 9-11.
Abram burns the idols: death of Haran, 12-14 (cf. Gen. xi. 28). Terah and his family go to
FHlaran,15. Abram observes the stars and prays,16—21. Ts bidden to go to Canaan and blessed,

22-4. Power of speaking Hebrew given to him, 25-7. Leaves Haran for Canaan, 28-31.
(Cf. Gen. xi. 31-xii. 3.)

12, And it came to pass in the sixth week, in the seventh year thereof, that Abram said to Terah his 1
2 father, saying, ‘Father!’ And he said, ‘ Behold, here am I, my son.’ And he said,

‘What help and profit have we from those idols which thou dost worship,
And before which thou dost bow thyself?

3. For there is no spirit in them,

For they are cumb forms, and a misleading of the heart.
Worship them ποῖ:

10, Gen, xi. 25.

11-20. Legends of Abram’s boyhood, quoted by Jerome, Zfés¢. Ixxviii, ad Fabiolam, mansione 24.
12. reduced .. . to destitution i.e. Y"N, ‘lay waste’—a play on Terah (MN).

16-17. Cf. Beer, Leben Abrahams 102-4; Fabricius, i. 422. rae

20. caused. ‘The causal form is needed.

XII. 1-14. The extravagant legend of Abram in fiery furnace, common in the later Rabbis, is apparently unknown
to our author; Haran’s fate in 14 is a relic of this idea based on Gen. xv. 7; Exod. xx. 2; Isa. xxix. 22.

2. Epiph. Haer. i. 1. 38, makes Terah inventor of image-worship. For help and profit cf. 1 Sam. xii, 21.
ΒΕ, cxzxvs 17. :
30

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 12. 4—21

Worship the God of heaven,
Who causes the rain and the dew to descend on the earth
And does everything upon the earth,

And has created everything by His word,
And all life is from before His face.

Why do ye worship things that have no spirit in them?
For they are the work of (men’s) hands,

And on your shoulders do ye bear them,
And ye have no help from them,

But they are a great cause of shame to those who make them,
And a misleading of the heart to those who worship them :
Worship them not.’

6 And his father said unto him, ‘I also know it, my son, but what shall I do with a people who have
z made me to serve before them? And if I tell them the truth, they will slay me; for their soul
8 cleaves to them to worship them and honour them. Keep silent, my son, lest they slay thee.’ And
9 these words he spake to his two brothers, and they were angry with him and he kept silent. And
in the fortieth jubilee, in the second week, in the seventh year thereof, Abram took to himself a wife, 1925 1.m.
toand her name was Sarai, the daughter of his father, and she became his wife. And Haran, his
brother, took to himself a wife in the third year of the third week, and she bare him a son in the 1928 a.m.
11 seventh year of this week, and he called his name Lot. And Nahor, his brother, took to himself 1932 a.m.
128 wife. And in the sixtieth year of the life of Abram, that is, in the fourth week, in the fourth year 1936 a.m.
thereof, Abram arose by night, and burned the house of the idols, and he burned all that was in the
13 house, and no man knew it. And they arose in the night and sought to save their gods from the
14 midst of the fire. And Haran hasted to save them, but the fire flamed over him, and he was burnt
in the fire, and he died in Ur of the Chaldees before Terah his father, and they buried him in Ur of
15 the Chaldees. And Terah went forth from Ur of the Chaldees, he and his sons, to go into the land
of Lebanon and into the land of Canaan, and he dwelt in the land of Haran, and Abram dwelt with
16 Terah his father in Haran two weeks of years. And in the sixth week, in the fifth year thereof, 1951 a.x.
Abram sat up throughout the night on the new moon of the seventh month to observe the stars
from the evening to the morning, in order to see what would be the character of the year with regard
17 to the rains, and he was alone as he sat and observed. And a word came into his heart and he said:
‘ All the signs of the stars, and the signs of the moon and of the sun are all in the hand of the Lord.
Why do I search (them) out ?

18 If He desires, He causes it to rain, morning and evening ;
And if He desires, He withholds it,
And all things are in his hand.’

19 And he prayed that night and said,

‘My God, God Most High, Thou alone art my God,
And Thee and Thy dominion have I chosen.

And Thou hast created all things,

And all things that are are the work of thy hands.

20 Deliver me from the hands of evil spirits who have dominion over the thoughts of men’s hearts,
And let them not lead me astray from Thee, my God.

And stablish Thou me and my seed for ever
That we go not astray from henceforth and for evermore.’

21 And he said, ‘ Shall I return unto Ur of the Chaldees who seek my face that I may return to them,
or am I to remain here in this place? The right path before Thee prosper it in the hands of Thy
servant that he may fulfil (it) and that I may not walk in the deceitfulness of my heart, O my God.’

4. Cf. Jer. xiv. 22; Matt. v. 45; Acts xiv. 17.

5. Jer. x. 3,9; Am. v. 26; Isa. xlvi. 7; Ass. Mos. viii. 4; Ep. Jer. 4, 26.

9. Follows Gen. xx. 12. Abram’s action is contrary to law of Lev. xviii. 9, xx. 17; evasions of later writers
unknown apparently to our author ; e.g. Josephus i. 6. 5, 7. 1 turns Sarah into Abrahams niece.:

16-18. Abram is rebuked for star-gazing. Cf. Philo, De /igr. Abrah. xxxii; Ber. rabb. 44 and later authors.

21. he; MSS. read ‘1’.

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 12. 22---18. τὸ

22 And he made an end of speaking and praying, and behold the word of the Lord was sent to him .
through me, saying: ‘Get thee up from thy country, and from thy kindred and from the house of
thy father unto a land which I will show thee, and I shall make thee a great and numerous nation.

23 And I will bless thee

And I will make thy name great,

And thou shalt be blessed in the earth,

And in Thee shall all families of the earth be blessed,
And I will bless them that bless thee,

And curse them that curse thee.

24 And I will be a God to thee and thy son, and to thy son’s son, and to all thy seed: fear not, from

25 henceforth and unto all generations of the earth Iam thy God. And the Lord God said: ‘Open
his mouth and his ears, that he may hear and speak with his mouth, with the language which has
been revealed’; for it had ceased from the mouths of all the children of men from the day of the

26 overthrow (of Babel). And I opened his mouth, and his ears and his lips, and I began to speak

27 with him in Hebrew in the tongue of the creation. And he took the books of his fathers, and these
were written in Hebrew, and he transcribed them, and he began from henceforth to study them, and
I made known to him that which he could not (understand), and he studied them during the six

28 rainy months. And it came to pass in the seventh year of the sixth week that he spoke to his 195
father and informed him, that he would leave Haran to go into the land of Canaan to see it and

2y return to him. And Terah his father said unto him ; ‘Go in peace:

May the eternal God make thy path straight, ,

And the Lord [(be) with thee, and] protect thee from all evil,

And grant unto thee grace, mercy and favour before those who see thee,
And may none of the children of men have power over thee to harm thee ;
Go in peace.

80 +=And if thou seest a land pleasant to thy eyes to dwell in, then arise and take me to thee and take

31 Lot with thee, the son of Haran thy brother as thine own son: the Lord be with thee. And Nahor
thy brother leave with me till thou returnest in peace, and we go with thee all together,

Abram journeys from Haran to Shechem in Canaan, thence to Hebron and thence to Egypt, 1-14a.
Returns to Canaan where Lot separates from him, and receives the promise of Canaan and
journeys to Hebron, 146-21. Chedorlaomer’s attack on Sodom and Gomorrah: Lot taken captive,
22-4. Law of tithes enacted,25-9. (Cf. Gen. xii. 4-10, 15-17, 19-20; xiii. 11-18; xiv..8-14;
21-4.)

18: And Abram journeyed from Haran, and he took Sarai, his wife, and Lot, his brother’ Haran’s
son, to the land of Canaan, and he came into tAsshur7, and proceeded to Shechem, and dwelt near
2a lofty oak. And he saw, and, behold, the land was very pleasant from the entering of Hamath to
3 the lofty oak. And the Lord said to him: ‘To thee and to thy seed will I give this land.’ And
4 he built an altar there, and he offered thereon a burnt sacrifice to the Lord, who had appeared to
5 him. And he removed from thence unto the mountain ... Bethel on the west and Ai on the
6 east, and pitched his tent there. And he saw and behold, the land was very wide and good, and
everything grew thereon—vines and figs and pomegranates, oaks and ilexes, and terebinths and oil
trees, and cedars and cypresses and date trees, and all trees of the field, and there was water on the
7 mountains. And he blessed the Lord who had led him out of Ur of the Chaldees, and had brought
8 him to this land. And it came to pass in the first year, in the seventh week, on the new moon of 195.
the first month, that he built an altar on this mountain, and called on the name of the Lord: ‘Thou,
9 the eternal God, art my God.’ And he offered on the altar a burnt sacrifice unto the Lord that He
10 should be with him and not forsake him all the days of his life. And he removed from thence and
went towards the south, and he came to Hebron, and Hebron was built at that time, and he dwelt
there two years, and he went (thence) into the land of the south, to Bealoth, and there was a famine

25-26. Abram at 75 taught the sacred language (Hebrew), quoted by Syncell, i. 185 ; Clem. Recogz. i. 30.

27. six rainy months = winter; as Talmud (Taan. 3 ὁ, Erub. 56a).

δ ἀῤνο blessing protects Abram from the reproach of leaving his aged father. (Singer, /udi/@en, 170; Ber.
Rabb. 39).

XIII. 2. the lofty odk. So LXX. Gen. xii. 6 (Mass. =‘ oak of Moreh’).
3-Io. Gen. xii. 7-10.

6. date trees: dilands for bibandés (a).

1ο. Bealoth = Josh. xv. 24.

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 18. 11—14. 4

tin the land. And Abram went into Egypt in the third year of the week, and he dwelt in Egypt
2 five years before his wife was torn away from him. Now Tanais in Egypt was at that time built—
13 seven years after Hebron. And it came to pass when Pharaoh seized Sarai, the wife of Abram,
_ that the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.
4 And Abram was very glorious by reason of possessions in sheep, and cattle, and asses, and horses,
and camels, and menservants, and maidservants, and in silver and gold exceedingly. And Lot also,
15 his brother’s son, was wealthy. And Pharaoh gave back Sarai, the wife of Abram, and he sent
him out of the land of Egypt, and he journeyed to the place where he had pitched his tent at the
beginning, to the place of the altar, with Ai on the east, and Bethel on the west, and he blessed the
6 Lord his God who had brought him back in peace. And it came to pass in the forty-first jubilee,
in the third year of the first week, that he returned to this place and offered thereon a burnt sacrifice,
and called on the name of the Lord, and said: ‘ Thou, the most high God, art my God for ever
17 and ever. And in the fourth year of this week Lot parted from him, and Lot dwelt in Sodom, and
8 the men of Sodom were sinners exceedingly. And it grieved him in his heart that his brother’s
19 son had parted from him; for he had no children. In that year when Lot was taken captive, the
Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot had parted from him, in the fourth year of this week: ‘ Lift
up thine eyes from the place where thou art dwelling, northward and southward, and westward and
eastward. For ail the land which thou seest I will give to thee and to thy seed for ever, and I
will make thy seed as the sand of the sea: though a man may number the dust of the earth, yet
“a thy seed shall not be numbered. Arise, walk (through the land) in the length of it and the breadth
of it, and see it all; for to thy seed will I give it’ And Abram went to Hebron, and dwelt there.
_ 22 And in this year came Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, and Amraphel, king of Shinar, and Arioch,
king of Séllasar, and Térgal, king of nations, and slew the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Sodom
23 fled, and many fell through wounds in the vale of Siddim, by the Salt Sea. And they took captive
_ Sodom and Adam and Zeboim, and they took captive Lot also, the son of Abram’s brother, and
_ 24 all his possessions, and they went to Dan. And one who had escaped came and told Abram that
_ 25 his brother’s son had been taken captive and (Abram) armed his household servants. ᾿ Ξ :
-΄. ξ ᾿ Ε i : β for Abram, and for his seed, a tenth of the first fruits to
the Lord, and the Lord ordained it as an ordinance for ever that they should give it to the priests
26 who served before Him, that they should possess it for ever. And to this law there is no limit of
days ; for He hath ordained it for the generations for ever that they should give to the Lord the
- tenth of everything, of the seed and of the wine and of the oil and of the cattle and of the sheep.
'7, 28 And He gave (it) unto His priests to eat and to drink with joy before Him. And the king of
Sodom came to him and bowed himself before him, and said: ‘Our Lord Abram, give unto us the
29 souls which thou hast rescued, but let the booty be thine.’ And Abram said unto him: ‘I lift up
my hands to the Most High God, that from a thread to a shoe-latchet I shall not take aught that
is thine lest thou shouldst say, I have made Abram rich; save only what the young men have
eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me—Aner, Eschol, and Mamre. These shall take
their portion.’

Abram receives the promise of a son and of innumerable descendants, 1-7. Offers a sacrifice and ts
told of his seed being in Egypt, 8-17. God's covenant with Abram, 18-20. Hagar bears
Ishmael, 21-4. (Cf. Gen. xv.; xvi. I-4, 11.)

x After these things, in the fourth year of this week, on the new moon of the third month, the
___word of the Lord came to Abram in a dream, saying: ‘Fear not, Abram; I am thy defender, and
_ 2thy reward will be exceeding great.’ And he said: ‘ Lord, Lord, what wilt thou give me, seeing I

go hence childless, and the son of Maséq, the son of my handmaid, is the Dammasek Eliezer: he
3 will be my heir, and to me thou hast given no seed.’ And he said unto him: ‘This (man) will not
4 be thy heir, but one that will come out of thine own bowels; he will be thine heir. And He

12. Tanais = Zoan (Num. xiii. 22).
I ge xii. 15-20; but 18 and Abraham’s deception are cut out.
17. ἡ xiii, 11.
19-21. Gen. xiii. 14-18.
22. Names as LXX.
22. vale of Siddim: an easy emendation.
᾿ς 425. This lacuna told of the pursuit, and the meeting with Melchizedek. Our author would naturally be interested
» in first man who bore the title assumed by his heroes, the Maccabees.
) 26. He finds precedent in Gen. xiv. 20 for law of universal tithing.
28-9. Gen. xiv. 21-4.

XIV. 1-16. Gen. xv. 1-16.
1105.2 33 D

ΝΥ ean ὦ

1963 A.M.

1964 A.M.

THE BOOK ΟΕ JUBILEES 14. 4—15, 2

brought him forth abroad, and said unto him: ‘ Look toward heaven and number the stars. if thou
5 art able to number them.’ And he looked toward heaven, and beheld the stars. And He said
6 unto him: ‘So shall thy seed be.’ And he believed in the Lord, and it was counted to him for
7 righteousness. And He said unto him: ‘I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees,
to give thee the land of the Canaanites to possess it for ever; and I will be God unto thee and to
8 thy seed after thee. And he said: ‘ Lord, Lord, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit (it)?’
9 And He said unto him: ‘Take Me an heifer of three years, and a goat of three years, and a sheep
το of three years, and a turtle-dove, and a pigeon.’ And he took all these in the middle of the month;
11 and he dwelt at the oak of Mamre, which is near Hebron. And he built there an altar, and
sacrificed all these ; and he poured their blood upon the altar, and divided them in the midst, and
12 laid them over against each other ; but the birds divided he not. And birds came down upon the
13 pieces, and Abram drove them away, and did not suffer the birds to touch them. And it came to
pass, when the sun had set, that an ecstasy fell upon Abram, and lo! an horror of great darkness
fell upon him, and it was said unto Abram: ‘ Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in
a land (that is) not theirs, and they shall bring them into bondage, and afflict them four hundred
14 years. And the nation also to whom they will be in bondage will I judge, and after that they shall
15 come forth thence with much substance. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace, and be buried
16 in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall return hither; for the iniquity of the
17 Amorites is not yet full.’ And he awoke from his sleep, and he arose, and the sun had set; and
there was a flame, and behold! a furnace was smoking, and a flame of fire passed between the
18 pieces. And on that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: ‘ To thy seed will I give
this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates, the Kenites, the Keniz-
zites, the Kadmonites, the Perizzites, and the Rephaim, the Phakorites, and the Hivites, and the
19 Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites. And the day passed,
and Abram offered the pieces, and the birds, and their fruit offerings, and their drink offerings, and
20 the fire devoured them. And on that day we made a covenant with Abram, according as we had
covenanted with Noah in this month ; and Abram renewed the festival and ordinance for himself
21 for ever. And Abram rejoiced, and made all these things known to Sarai his wife ; and he believed
22 that he would have seed, but she did not bear. And Sarai advised her husband Abram, and said
unto him: ‘Go in unto Hagar, my Egyptian maid: it may be that I shall build up seed unto thee
23 by her... And Abram hearkened unto the voice of Sarai his wife, and said unto her, ‘ Do (so).’
And Sarai took Hagar, her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to Abram, her husband, to be his
24 wife. And he went in unto her, and she conceived and bare him a son, and he called his name
Ishmael, in the fifth year of this week ; and this was the eighty-sixth year in the life of Abram.

Abram celebrates the feast of first fruits, 1-2: his name changed and circumcision instituted, 3-14.
Sarai’s name changed and Isaak promised, 15-21. Abraham, Ishmael, and all his household
circumcised, 22-4. Circumcision an eternal ordination, 25,26. Israel shares this honour with
the highest angels who were created circumcised, 27-9. Israel subject to God alone: other
nations to angels, 30-2. Future faithlessness of Israel, 33-4. (Cf. Gen. xvii.)

15. And in the fifth year of the }fourtht week of this jubilee, in the third month, in the middle of the
2 month, Abram celebrated the feast of the first-fruits of the grain harvest. And he offered new
offerings on the altar, the first-fruits of the produce, unto the Lord, an heifer and a goat and a sheep

12,17, 19. Text = ταθέντα corrupt for τμηθέντα = the pieces: or corrupt for κταθέντα = O'5 as in Mass. = ‘carcases’.
12. and . . . away as Mass. Aquila.

_13. four hundred years: Gen. xv. 13; contradicts (a) Exod. xii. 40 (430 years); (4) Period calculated from Exod.
vi. 18, 20 and vii. 7 (ages of Kohath, Amram, and Moses at Exodus). Author like Philo and Josephus (Azz. ii. 9. 15
Bell. ν. 9. 4) avoids later attempts to reconcile them, e.y. Ber. Rabb. 39. See Beer, Leben Adr, 118-20.

16. Cf. Gen. xxi. 5. A generation was one hundred years.
18. Hivites: Gen. xv. 20, Sam. LXX.

20, that day = Sivan 15; day of Noah's covenant. (
21-4. Gen. xvi. 1-4, 11.

Paks . tFourtht (acd). éreads‘seventh’. It should be ‘third ’, here and in xvi. 15, as Dillmann recognized.
VAL T's
_ Inthe third month, in the middle of the month. Froma comparison of xv. 1 and xliv. 4, 5 (see notes also on
i, I, vi. 17-18, xiv. 20) it follows that the feast of weeks was celebrated on the fifteenth of the third month (Sivan).
Since this reckoning deviates from that of the Pharisees about the beginning of the Christian era, and as there were
many divergent views in Judaism about, before, and after that period, we must here inquire briefly into the origin and
nature of these views.

First of all it is clear that they all arose from the various meanings attached to the word ‘Sabbath’ in Lev. xxiii.
15,16. In these verses it is ordained that the feast of weeks should fall on the fiftieth day after the offering of the

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 15, 2-12

on the altar as a burnt sacrifice unto the Lord; their fruit offerings and their drink offerings he

3 offered upon the altar with frankincense. And the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him:

41 am God Almighty; approve thyself before me and be thou perfect. And I will make My

5 covenant between Me and thee, and I will multiply thee exceedingly.’ And Abram fell on his face,
and God talked with him, and said:

6 ‘Behold my ordinance is with thee,
And thou shalt be the father of many nations.

ἃ

- 9 Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram,

᾿ : But thy name from henceforth, even for ever, shall be Abraham.
: For the father of many nations have I made thee.

8 And I will make thee very great,
And I will make thee into nations,
i And kings shall come forth from thee.

9 And I shall establish My covenant between Me and thee, and thy seed after thee, throughout their
| generations, for an eternal covenant, so that I may be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.
᾿ς 10¢And I will give to thee and to thy seed after thee) the land where thou hast been a sojourner,
_ ifthe land of Canaan, that thou mayst possess it for ever, and I will be their God.’ And the Lord
said unto Abraham: ‘And as for thee, do thou keep my covenant, thou and thy seed after thee ;

and circumcise ye every male among you, and circumcise your foreskins, and it shall be a token of
12 an eternal covenant between Me and you. And the child on the eighth day ye shall circumcise,

Paschal wave-sheaf. Now this sheaf was waved ‘on the morrow after the Sabbath’ (Lev. xxiii. 11, 15, 2wn nano).
In what sense, then, are we to take the word ‘Sabbath’? Two ways are possible:—(1) It may be taken to mean
merely a feast day. (2) It may be taken in its strict sense as the weekly Sabbath.

First the word ‘Sabbath’ is taken in the general sense of a feast-day. Now the first day of unleavened bread
(Lev. xxiii. 7) was such a day; but the seventh (Lev. xxiii. 8) was no less so. Hence two different computations arise
from this interpretation of the word, (i) the first of which interprets the first day of unleavened bread as the Sabbath,
and (ii) the second which interprets it of the seventh day. (i) The first interpretation, which took the Sabbath to be
the first day of unleavened bread (Nisan 15), naturally understood the phrase ‘the morrow after the Sabbath’ to
designate Nisan 16, without regard to the day of the week. This was the interpretation of the Pharisees in our Lord’s
time. This view is first attested in the LXX, where the phrase in question is rendered by τῇ ἐπαύριον τῆς πρώτης
(here ἡ πρώτη = NWN), exactly as in Ps.-Jon. on Lev. xxiii. 15, 78Dp NIN NOY NID; in the Targum of Onkelos
(82D ND 73ND) where ‘the Sabbath’ is simply rendered the ‘ feast day’: in Josephus, Azz. iii. 10. 5, τῇ δὲ deurépa
τῶν ἀζύμων ἡμέρα : in Philo, de Septenar. 20, where the day for waving the sheaf is said to be the second day of
unleavened bread : ‘Eopri δὲ ἔστιν ἡ pera τὴν πρώτην εὐθὺς ἡμέρα. The Mishna, also (Chag. ii. 4; Menach. x. 1-3),
maintains this interpretation against conflicting expositions.

Since on this view the sheaf-waving took place on Nisan 16, the feast of weeks, fifty days later, was usually celebrated
on Sivan 6, without regard in either case to the day of the week.

(ii) But others took the Sabbath to mean the seventh day of unleavened bread, which was also a day of rest. As
the Sabbath in this case was Nisan 21, the morrow after the Sabbath was Nisan 22. This is actually the course pur-
sued by the (2) Falashas or Abyssinian Jews. They reckon the fifty days from Nisan 22 and thus the feast of weeks
falls on Sivan 12 as they use alternate months of thirty and twenty-nine days (see d’Abbadie in Univ. /sr. Juillet
1851, p- 482). (6) Again this view is attested by the Syriac version of Lev. xxiii. 11, 15, as existing before 100 A. Ὁ,
Thus it renders the Hebrew phrase Wim) lsoa. dK> = ‘after the second (feast) day’, that is Nisan 21. (c) But the
usage is as early as the second century B.C.; for it appears in our text. At the beginning of this note we found that
the feast of weeks took place on the Sivan 15. If we count back fifty days (reckoning the second month at twenty-
eight days), we arrive at Nisan 22 when the wave-sheaf was offered. ‘Thus Jubilees also interpreted the phrase ‘ the
morrow after the Sabbath’ as meaning the day after the seventh day of unleavened bread, which was a special day of

(2) But on the fact that the simple term ‘ Sabbath’ stands elsewhere only as the weekly Sabbath are based other
early uses among the Jews as well as certain modern speculations. Thus the Baithusians (Menachoth 65 a) took ‘ the
morrow after the Sabbath’ to be the day after the weekly Sabbath which occurred during the feast of unleavened bread.
Frankel (Einfluss d. Pal. Exeg., 1851, pp. 136-7) holds that the τῇ ἐπαύριον τῆς πρώτης of the LXX is directed against
this view. The Karaite Jews (Trigland, Diatribe de Secta Karaeorum, 1703; Fiirst, Geschichte des Karderthums, 1865)
and likewise the Samaritans follow the strict interpretation of the term Sabbath in thisconnexion. Very many modern
scholars hold geese to some form of this theory, as Hitzig (Ostern u. Pfingsten, 1837 and Ostern u. Pfingsten im
sweiten Dekalog, 1838), who maintained that in the Hebrew calendar Nisan 14 and 21 were always Sabbaths and that
‘the morrow after the Sabbath’ was Nisan 22. Knobel (on Lev. xxiii. 11) agreed with Hitzig, save that he identified the
day of the sheaf-waving with Nisan15. Saalschiitz (Das Mos. Recht,’ 1853, p. 420), Fiirst (Hebr. u. Chald.Worterbuch,
1863, under word Nlv’), Wellhausen (Jahr. Δ deutsch. Theol. xxii), Dillmann (on Lev. xxiii. 11), von Orelli (Herzog's
Real-Encyc.* xi. 264) accept in one form or another the Sadducean interpretation. In addition to the above literature,
see the Articles on Pentecost (Pfimgst/est) in Hastings’ Bible Dictionary; Herzog’s Real-Encyc.? and Schenkel’s
Bibel-Lexicon.

1-27. Gen. xvii. 1-27.
2. Not as Lev. xxiii. 18-20.
10. Words restored from Gen. xvii. 8 were lost through hmt.

35 D2

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 15. 12-26

every male throughout your generations, him that is born in the house, or whom ye have bought
13 with money from any stranger, whom ye have acquired-who is not of thy seed. He that is born in
thy house shall surely be circumcised, and those whom thou hast bought with money shall be circum- ©
14 cised,and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an eternal ordinance. And the uncircumcised male
who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin on the eighth day, that soul shall be cut off from
15 his people, for he has broken My covenant.’ And God said unto Abraham: ‘ As for Sarai thy wife, _
16 her name shall no more be called Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. And I will bless her, and:give
thee a son by her, and I will bless him, and he shall become a nation, and kings of nations shall
17 proceed from him.’ And Abraham fell on his face, and rejoiced, and said in his heart: ‘ Shall a son
be born to him that is a hundred years old, and shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bring forth?’
19 And Abraham said unto God: ‘O that Ishmael might live before thee!’ And God said: ‘ Yea,
and Sarah also shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name Isaac, and I will. establish My _
20 covenant with him, an everlasting covenant, and for his seed after him. And as for Ishmael also
have I heard thee, and behold I will bless him, and make him great, and multiply him exceedingly,
21 and he shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. But My covenant will
221 establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to thee, in these days, in the next year.’ And He left -
23 off speaking with him, and God went up from Abraham. And Abraham did according as God had
said unto him, and he took Ishmael his son, and all that were born in his house, and whom he had
24 bought with his money, every male in his house, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin. And
on the selfsame day was Abraham circumcised, and all the men of his house, (and those born in the
house), and all those, whom he had bought with money from the children of the stranger, were
25 circumcised with him. This law is for all the generations for ever, and there is no circumcision of
the days, and no omission of one day out of the eight days; for it is an eternal ordinance, ordained
26 and written on the heavenly tablets. And every one that is born, the flesh of whose foreskin is not
circumcised on the eighth day, belongs not to the children of the covenant which the Lord made
with Abraham, but to the children of destruction ; nor is there, moreover, any sign on him that he
is the Lord’s, but (he is destined) to be destroyed and slain from the earth, and to be rooted out of

14. on the eighth day. These words, which are not found in the Mass., Syr., and Vulg., are, however, attested by
the Sam. and LXX. Also in Origen’s Commentary zz Ef. ad Rom. ii. 13 (Lommatzsch, vi. 123-4): Incircumcisus
masculus, qui non fuerit circumcisus in carne praeputii sui die octavo, exterminabitur anima illa: and in Ambrose,
Epist. 72, who remarks on Aquila’s statement that this clause is wanting in the Hebrew. See on ver. 26.

As the Sabbath is the first, so circumcision is the second cardinal command of Judaism. In opposition to the laxity
introduced by Greek culture the command in Gen. xv. 14 is enunciated afresh and the requirement added that it should
be performed on the eighth day of the child’s life. Owing to Greek influences, even before the reign of Antiochus IV,
many Jews of noble birth had undergone surgical operations in order to appear like Greeks when undressed (1 Macc.
i. 15; Assumpt. Mos. viii. 3 ; Joseph. “117. xii. 5. 1). Subsequently Antiochus had taken the severest measures to
prohibit circumcision (1 Macc. i. 48, 60, ii. 46). ‘To withstand the Hellenizing attitude towards circumcision our author
emphasizes what was apparently the current view of his time, i. e., that circumcision should be performed on the eighth
day—the current view ; for the words enjoining it were in both Jewish and Samaritan copies of the Hebrew text of
Gen. xvii. 14 (see above). This strict view was subsequently relaxed. Thus, according to Shabb. xix. 5: ‘ A child could
be circumcised on the 8th, 9th, 1oth, 11th, or 12th day, neither earlier nor later. How so? Usually it is circumcised
on the 8th day. Should it be born on the evening, it is circumcised on the 9th: should it be born on Friday evening it
is circumcised on the 1oth: should the Sunday be a festival, on the 11th: should the Sunday and Monday be New
Year’s days, on the 12th. If the child is ill, it is not circumcised till well” But the Samaritans have held fast to the
severer regulation to the present day. In letters of the Samaritans communicated by de Sacy to T. Scaliger (Eichhorn’s
Repertor, xiii. 261) it is said: ‘We circumcise the male on the eighth day and do not defer circumcision a single day

(ans DY YANN wd) . . . but the Jews defer it one day or more.’ That the severer form of the halachah prevailed
among the Jews themselves as late as the second century A. D. might be inferred from Justin Martyr (Dial c. Tryph.
27): ‘Did God wish those to sin who are circumcised or do circumcise on the Sabbaths? for He commands that on
the eighth day—even though it happen to be a Sabbath—those who are born should always be circumcised (τῇ ἡμέρᾳ
τῇ ὀγδόῃ ἐκ παντὸς περιτέμνεσθαι τοὺς γεννηθέντας ὁμοίως κἂν 7 ἡμέρα τῶν σαββάτων :). Could not He have the infants cir-
cumcised one day before or one day after the Sabbath, if He knew that it was ἃ sinful act on the Sabbath?’ This custom
is also regarded as obligatory by the Falashas or Abyssinian Jews. Cf. Abbadie, Univ. /sr. Avr. p. 481, 1851 (quoted
by Singer, p. 289 note). We might observe here that our book knows nothing of the later traditions that the patriarchs
such as Adam, Seth, Enoch, Noah, Shem, Terah, Jacob and six others were born circumcised (Midrash Tillin 10 4,
Soteh 10 ὁ, quoted by Hershon, 7reasures of Talmud, 238,240,241). Ber. rabba 43 affirms this of Melchizedek. For
other references see Singer, p. 301 note.

We might observe here that our book knows nothing of the barbarous mode of circumcision ordered by the Talmud-
ists and Bar Cochba in order to make it impossible to obliterate the signs of it by any such surgical operation as is
referred to above. This mode was known as the 795, ‘or the laying bare’. This mutilation after the removal of the
foreskin is still practised, See Hershon, Genesis, p. 304. ; .

17. rejoiced. Nestlé has pointed out that Jub. here as Targ. Onk. on Gen. xvii. 17 read "1), while Targ. Jon. has
mon). Hence he explains John viii. 56. Η Ὡς AE F<

24. and those . . . house: restored with Lat.

26. on: MSS. and Lat. wrongly ‘till’.

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 15. 27—16. 13

27 the earth, for he has broken the covenant of the Lord our God. For all the angels of the presence:
and all the angels of sanctification have been so created from the day of their creation,.and before
the angels of the presence and the angels of sanctification He hath sanctified Israel, that they should’
28 be with Him and with His holy angels. And do thou command the children of Israel and let them
observe the sign of this covenant for their generations as an eternal ordinance, and they will not ‘be
29 rooted out of the land. For the command is ordained for a covenant, that they should observe it
30 for ever among all the children of Israel. For Ishmael and his sons and his brothers and Esau, the
Lord did not cause to approach Him, and he chose them not. because they are the children of
31 Abraham, because He knew them, but He chose Israel to be His people. And He sanctified it, and
gathered it from amongst all the children of men; for there are many nations and many peoples,
and all are His, and over all hath He placed spirits in authority to lead them astray from Him.
32 But over Israel He did not appoint any angel or spirit, for He alone is their ruler, and He will
preserve them and require them at the hand of His angels and His spirits, and at the hand of all
His powers in order that He may preserve them and bless them, and that they may be His and He
33 may be theirs from henceforth for ever. And now I announce unto thee that the children of Israel
will not keep true to this ordinance, and they will not circumcise their sons according to all this law ;
| ᾿ for in the flesh of their circumcision they will omit this circumcision of their sons, and all of them,
: 34 sons of Beliar, will leave their sons uncircumcised as they were born. And there will be great wrath
_ from the Lord against the children of Israel, because they have forsaken His covenant and turned
\ aside from His word, and provoked and blasphemed, inasmuch as they do not observe the ordinance
of this law ; for they have treated their members like the Gentiles, so that they may be removed
and rooted out of the land. And there will no more be pardon or forgiveness unto them [so that
there should be forgiveness and pardon] for all the sin of this eternal error.

Angels appear to Abraham in Hebron and Isaac again promised, 1-4. Destruction of Sodom and

Lot’s deliverance, 5-9. Abraham at Beersheba: birth of ana circumcision of Isaac, whose seed

- was to be the portion of Οοα, το το. Justitution of the feast of Tabernacles, 20-31. (Cf. Gen.
4 XVill. I, 10, 12; xix. 24, 29, 33-7; xX. I, 4, 8; xxi. I-4.)

16 1 And on the new moon of the fourth month we appeared unto Abraham, at the oak of Mamre, and
5 we talked with him, and we announced to him that a son would be given to him by Sarah his wife.
2 And Sarah laughed, for she heard that we had spoken these words with Abraham, and we admonished

3 her, and she became afraid, and denied that she had laughed on account of the words. And we
told her the name of her son, as his name is ordained and written in the heavenly tablets (i. 6.) Isaac,

4, 5 And (that) when we returned to her at a set time, she would have conceived a son. And in this
month the Lord executed his judgments on Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Zeboim, and all the region

of the Jordan, and He burned them with fire and brimstone, and destroyed them until this day, even

as [lo] I have declared unto thee all their works, that they are wicked and sinners exceedingly, and
that they defile themselves and commit fornication in their flesh, and work uncleanness on the earth.

6 And, in like manner, God will execute judgment on the places where they have done according to

7 the uncleanness of the Sodomites, like unto the judgment of Sodom. But Lot we saved; for God

8 remembered Abraham, and sent him out from the midst of the overthrow. And he and his daughters
committed sin upon the earth, such as had not been on the earth since the days of Adam till his
gtime; for the man lay with his daughters. And, behold, it was commanded and engraven con-
cerning all his seed, on the heavenly tablets, to remove them and root them out, and to execute judg-
ment upon them like the judgment of Sodom, and to leave no seed of the man on earth on the day
το 0fcondemnation. And in this month Abraham moved from Hebron, and departed and dwelt between
_ 11 Kadesh and Shur in the mountains of Gerar. And in the middle of the fifth month he moved from
42 thence, and dwelt at the Well of the Oath. And in the middle of the sixth month the Lord visited
13 Sarah and did unto her as He had spoken and she conceived. And she bare a son in the third

oo att ae

27. Latin wrongly makes four orders of angels—really two, as in 11, 18. Cf. Weber, Δ 7. 25.

31-2. Dependent on Deut. xxxii. 8,9 (LXX). Cf. Sir. xvii. 17 ;,Dan. x, 13, 20, 21; 1 En. Ixxxix.; cf. also 1 Cor.
Χ. 19; Gal. iv. 3,95; Col. ii. 20.

lead them astray. Cf. Isa. xxiv. 21, 22; 1 En. xc. 22. Ultimate result treated as immediate purpose of God's

action, but cf. Eisenmenger, Lxtdecktes Judentum, i. 805-20.
_, 33. Shows great strength of Hellenist movement in second century B.c. Sons of Beliar cf. Test. Dan. 5; 1 Sam.
ii. 12.

34. Our prophet has here become a mere writer of annals.

XVI. Cf. Gen. xviii, xix. The story of the angels’ visit is curtailed (perhaps their eating shocked him) and Abram’s
unseemly conduct to Abimelech is passed over.
12-14. Gen. xxi. 1-4. Isaac born on Sivan 15, but according to Rosh ha-Shanah 1048 on the Passover Feast,
and according to Midrash Tanchuma on Nisan,
37

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 16. 13~30

month, and in the middle of the month, at the time of which the Lord had spoken to Abraham, on
14 the festival of the first fruits of the harvest, Isaac was born. And Abraham circumcised his son on
the eighth day: he was the first that was circumcised according to the covenant which is ordained
15 for ever. And in the sixth year of the ¢fourtht week we came to Abraham, to the Well of the Oath,
and we appeared unto him [as we had told Sarah that we should return to her, and she would have
16 conceived a son. And we returned in the seventh month, and found Sarah with child before us] and
we blessed him, and we announced to him all the things which had been decreed concerning him,
that he should not die till he should beget six sons more, and should see (them) before he died ; but
17 (that) in Isaac should his name and seed be called: And (that) all the seed of his sons should be
Gentiles, and be reckoned with the Gentiles ; but from the sons of Isaac one should become a holy
18 seed, and should not be reckoned among the Gentiles. For he should become the portion of the
Most High, and all his seed had fallen into the possession of God, that it should be unto the Lord
a people for (His) possession above all nations and that it should become a kingdom and priests and
19a holy nation. And we went our way, and we announced to Sarah all that we had told him, and
20 they both rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And he built there an altar to the Lord who had
delivered him, and who was making him rejoice in the land of his sojourning, and he celebrated
a festival of joy in this month seven days, near the altar which he had built at the Well of the Oath.
21 And he built booths for himself and for his servants on this festival, and he was the first to celebrate
22 the feast of tabernacles on the earth. And during these seven days he brought each day to the
altar a burnt offering to the Lord, two oxen, two rams, seven sheep, one he-goat, for a sin offering,
23 that he might atone thereby for himself and for his seed. And, asa thank-offering, seven rams, seven
kids, seven sheep, and seven he-goats, and their fruit offerings and their drink offerings; and he
burnt all the fat thereof on the altar, a chosen offering unto the Lord for a sweet smelling savour.
24 And morning and evening he burnt fragrant substances, frankincense and galbanum, and stackte,
and nard, and myrrh, and spice, and costum ; all these seven he offered, crushed, mixed together in
25 equal parts (and) pure. And he celebrated this feast during seven days, rejoicing with all his heart
and with all his soul, he and all those who were in his house, and there was no stranger with him,
26 nor any that was uncircumcised. And he blessed his Creator who had created him in his generation,

for He had created him according to His good pleasure ; for He knew and perceived that from him ὦ

would arise the plant of righteousness for the eternal generations, and from him a holy seed, so that it
27 should become like Him who had made all things. And he blessed and rejoiced, and he called the
28 name of this festival the festival of the Lord, a joy acceptable to the Most High God. And we
blessed him for ever, and all his seed after him throughout all the generations of the earth, because
29 he celebrated this festival in its season, according to the testimony of the heavenly tablets. For this
reason it is ordained on the heavenly tablets concerning Israel, that they shall celebrate the feast of
tabernacles seven days with joy, in the seventh month, acceptable before the Lord—a statute for
30 ever throughout their generations every year. And to this there is no limit of days ; for it is ordained

15. tfourtht. Kead ‘third’. [ ] a gloss.

16. him = Lat., Eth. = ‘her’; six sons more: cf. Gen. xxv. 2.

17. Cf. Sanh. 59 ὁ.

18. Read Zerit (‘possession’) for ¢erstt (‘ magnificence’) (a ὁ ε) ; cf. Exod. xix. 6; Deut. vii. 6; @ has ves¢ (‘ inheri-
tance’); cf. Deut. iv. 20. Latin, opulum sanctificatum., '

a kingdom and priests (cf. xxxiii. 20) = βασιλεία καὶ ἱερεῖς, whereas the Latin has vegnum sacerdotale =
βασιλεία ἱερατική = DN nsdn. The phrase is from Exod. xix. 6, of which the Latin gives the correct rendering and
not the Ethiopic version. Yet the latter seems to represent the Hebrew original of our text, as we shall see presently.
First of all we observe that it is incorrectly translated in the LXX and it is reproduced in two forms in the N.T.
closely akin to those above. The LXX translates it incorrectly by βασίλειον ἱεράτευμα (a hierarchy consisting of kings),
and this rendering is adopted in 1 Pet. ii. 9. In Rev. v. 10 we have βασιλείαν καὶ ἱερεῖς exactly as in our Ethiopic text,
and in i, 6 βασιλείαν ἱερεῖς. Thus our Ethiopic text and Rev. i. 6, v. 10 agree in giving practically the same rendering
of O33 ΠΟΘ in Exod. xix. 6, and in inserting either the copula or a pause between the two, Hebrew words. This
is an ancient Jewish way of treating this phrase. Thus we find it given in Onkelos as 0°33 pobp (as in Rey, i. 6); in
Ps.-Jon. "Ww 7375) ΝΣ ΩΡ pbp (= kings with crowns and ministering priests); in the Jer. Targ. podn
ὉΠ) ; and the Syr. version hope Jlaa Noo ; exactly as in our Ethiopic text and in Rev. v. 10. Thus we conclude
that the Ethiopic text represents the Hebrew original and that the Latin reguum sacerdotale is borrowed by the Latin
translator of Jubilees from the Vulgate.

19. rejoiced: cf. xv. 17.

20-31. Contrast Num. xxix. 12-40. This peculiar account of the Feast of ‘ Tabernacles’ is quoted by Cedrenus,
i. 50.

τὰς Uses Exod. xxx. 34; cf. Sir, xxiv. 15. These seven sfices are as Jer. Joma iv. 5; Kerithoth 6a4; Nowack,
Hebr. Archiologie, ii. 248.

26. plant of righteousness, cf. 1 En. x. 16, lxxxiv. 6, xciii. 2, 5, 10.

29, 30. Cf. Lev. xxiii, 4o-1.

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 16. 3ο---18, 2

for ever regarding Israel that they should celebrate it and dwell in booths, and set wreaths upon
1 their heads, and take leafy boughs, and willows from the brook. And Abraham took branches of

palm trees, and the fruit of goodly trees, and every day going round the altar with the branches

seven times [a day] in the morning, he praised and gave thanks to his God for all things in joy.

Expulsion of Hagar and Ishmael, 1-14. Mastéméd proposes that God should require Abraham to
sacrifice Isaac in order to test his love and obedience: Abraham’s ten trials,15-18. (Cf. Gen.
xxi. 8-21.)
: And in the first year of the +fAfth} week Isaac was weaned in this jubilee, and Abraham made 1982 a.m.
24 great banquet in the third month, on the day his son Isaac was weaned. And Ishmael, the son of
_ Hagar, the Egyptian, was before the face of Abraham, his father, in his place,and Abraham rejoiced
3 and blessed God because he had seen his sons and had not died childless. And he remembered the
words which He had spoken to him on the day on which Lot had parted from him, and he rejoiced
because the Lord had given him seed upon the earth to inherit the earth, and he blessed with all his
4 mouth the Creator of all things. And Sarah saw Ishmael playing tand dancing,t and Abraham
rejoicing with great joy, and she became jealous of Ishmael and said to Abraham, ‘ Cast out this
5 bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman will not be heir with my son, Isaac.’ And
the thing was grievous in Abraham’s sight, because of his maidservant and because of his son,
6 that he should drive them from him. And God said to Abraham ‘ Let it not be grievous in thy
sight, because of the child and because of the bondwoman ; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee,
7 hearken to her words and do (them) ; for in Isaac shall thy name and seed be called. But as for
8 the son of this bondwoman I will make him a great nation, because he is of thy seed.’ And Abraham
rose up early in the morning, and took bread and a bottle of water, and placed them on the shoulders
g of Hagar and the child, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered in the wilderness of
Beersheba, and the water in the bottle was spent, and the child thirsted, and was not able to go on,
to and fell down. And his mother took him and cast him under an olive tree, and went and sat her
down over against him, at the distance of a bow-shot ; for she said,‘ Let me not see the death of my
_ i1child,’ and as she sat she wept. And an angel of God, one of the holy ones, said unto her, ‘ Why
weepest thou, Hagar? Arise take the child, and hold him in thine hand ; for God hath heard thy
12 voice, and hath seen the child.’ And she opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water, and she
went and filled her bottle with water, and she gave her child to drink, and she arose and went towards
13 the wilderness of Paran. And the child grew and became an archer, and God was with him, and his
14 mother took him a wife from among the daughters of Egypt. And she bare him a son, and he called
15 his name Nebaioth ; for she said,‘ The Lord was nigh to me when I called upon him.’ (And it came 2003 A.M. ¢
to pass in the seventh week, in the first year thereof, in the first month in this jubilee, omthe twelfth
of this month, there were voices in heaven regarding Abraham, that he was faithful in all that He
16 told him, and that he loved the Lord, and that in every affliction he was faithful. And the prince
Mastéma came and said before God, ‘ Behold, Abraham loves Isaac his son, and he delights in him
above all things else; bid him offer him as a burnt-offering on the altar, and Thou wilt see if he will
do this command, and Thou wilt know if he is faithful in everything wherein Thou dost try him.
17 And the Lord knew that Abraham was faithful in all his afflictions; for He had tried him through
his country and with famine, and had tried him with the wealth of kings, and had tried him again
through his wife, when she was torn (from him), and with circumcision; and had tried him through
_ 18Ishmael and Hagar, his maid-servant, when he sent them away. And in everything wherein He
had tried him, he was found faithful, and his soul was not impatient, and he was not slow to act ;
for he was faithful and a lover of the Lord.

Sacrifice of Isaac: Mastéméa put to shame,1-13. Abraham again blessed: returns to Beersheba
14-19. (Cf. Gen. xxii. 1-19.)

‘1,2 And God said to him, ‘ Abraham, Abraham’; and he said, Behold, (here) am I,’ And he said,

30. Wreaths only here in connexion with this Feast; but cf. Wisd. ii. 7: Joseph. Avzé. xix. 9.1; and Gittin 76;
Sota 494, a practice at weddings.

31. branches. MSS. and Lat. ‘heart’. aby was taken as 335,

XVII. 1-13. Cf. Gen. xxi. 8-21.

1. tfiftht. Read ‘fourth’.

4. and dancing (wa-yezafen) : ἢ corrupt for ‘ with Isaac’ (ba-yeshaq) (LXX, Vulg.).

7. ἃ great nation: as Sam., Syr., LXX, Vulg.; Ps.-Jon. ‘a nation of robbers’. Mass., Onk. > ‘great’.

11. An angel takes the place of God here: as Mastéma does in 16. In both cases, due to reverence.

17. Abraham’s tentrials. The number nearly always the same ; the contents different. Here concludes with Sarah’s
burial, xix. 3-8 ; usually with sacrifice of Isaac. See my Comm., 121, 122.

XVIII. 1-17. Gen, xxii. 1-19.

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 18. 2—19. 2

‘ Take thy beloved son whom thou lovest, (even) Isaac, and go unto the high country, and offer him

3 On one of the mountains which I will point out unto thee.’ And he rose early in the morning and
saddled his ass, and took his two young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood of the

4 burnt offering, and he went to the place on the third day, and he saw the place afar off. And he
came to a well of water, and he said to his young men, ‘ Abide ye here with the ass, and I and the

5 lad shall go (yonder), and when we have worshipped we shall come again to you.’ And he took the
wood of the burnt-offering and laid it on Isaac his son, and he took in his hand the fire and the

6 knife, and they went both of them together to that place. And Isaac said to his father, ‘ Father ;’
and he said, ‘ Here am I, my son.’ And he said unto him, ‘ Behold the fire, and the knife, and the

7 wood ; but where is the sheep for the burnt-offering, father?’ And he said, ‘God will provide for
himself a sheep for a burnt-offering, my son.’ And he drew near to the place of the mount of

g God. And he built an altar, and he placed the wood on the altar, and bound Isaac his son, and
placed him on the wood which was upon the altar, and stretched forth his hand to take the knife
to slay Isaac his son. And I stood before him, and before the prince Mastéma, and the Lord said,
‘Bid him not to lay his hand on the lad, nor to do anything to him, for I have shown that he fears
το the Lord.’ And I called to him from heaven, and said unto him: ‘ Abraham, Abraham ;’ and he
11 Was terrified and said : ‘ Behold, (here) am I.’ And I said unto him: ‘ Lay not thy hand upon the
lad, neither do thou anything to him; for now I have shown that thou fearest the Lord, and hast
12 not withheld thy son, thy first-born son, from me.’ And the prince Mastéma was put to shame;
and Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold a ram caught... by his horns, and Abraham
13 went and took the ram and offered it for a burnt-offering in the stead of his son. And Abraham
called that place ‘ The Lord hath seen ’, so that it is said (in the mount) the Lord hath seen: that is
14 Mount Sion. And the Lord called Abraham by his name a second time from heaven, as he caused
15 us to appear to speak to him in the name of the Lord. And he said: ‘ By Myself have I sworn,

saith the Lord,

Because thou hast done this thing,
And hast not withheld thy son, thy beloved son, from Me,
That in blessing I will bless thee,

And in multiplying I will multiply thy seed
As the stars of heaven,
And as the sand which is on the seashore.

And thy seed shall inherit the cities of its enemies,
16 And in thy seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed ;

Because thou hast obeyed My voice,
And I have shown to all that thou art faithful unto Me in all that I have said unto thee:
Go in peace.’

17 And Abraham went to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba, and Abraham 201

18 dwelt by the Well of the Oath. And he celebrated this festival every year, seven days with joy,
and he called it the festival of the Lord according to the seven days during which he went and

rg returned in peace. And accordingly has it been ordained and written on the heavenly tablets regarding
Israel and its seed that they should observe this festival seven days with the joy of festival.

Return of Abraham to Hebron. Death and burial of Sarah, 1-9. Marriage of Isaac and second
marriage of Abraham. Birthof Esau and Facob,10-14. Abraham commends F¥acob to Rebecca
and blesses him, 15-31. (Cf. Gen. xxiii. 1-4, 11-16 ; xxiv. 15 ; xxv. 1-2, 25-7; xiii. 16.)

19: And in the first year of the first week in the forty-second jubilee, Abraham returned and dwelt
2 Opposite Hebron, that is Kirjath Arba, two weeks of years. And in the first year of the {third} week

2. thy beloved son. As in LXX.

11. Ihave shown = Lat. version mantfestavi, The Eth. could also be rendered ‘I have known’, as Mass. and
Sam. of Gen. xxii, 12 YT}, but ‘shown’ is supported by both Lat. and Eth. in ver. 16. Cf. also Syr. of Gen. 4c.

13. in the mount : added from Latin = Gen. xxii, 14 (Mass.-LXX).

15. thy beloved son (a 4) = τοῦ ἀγαπητοῦ cov = 71". Lat. has, however, /o unigenito = τοῦ μονογενοῦς σου =
71M. For similar divergences perhaps due to a dittography in the Hebrew cf. LXX (A) of Judges xi. 34: αὕτη povo-
γενὴς αὐτῷ ἀγαπητή, and LXX and Vulg, of Gen. xxii. 2, 12,16. But here cd have ‘ thy first-born son’ (ver. 11), and add
(like Lat. gem dilexistz) ‘whom thou hast loved’, which addition may go back to Gen. xxii. 2, or to Ὑ 1) (the variant .
or dittograph of 7M) in Gen. xxii. 16. Ἷ

cities. So Onk., Sam. Vers., LXX in Gen. xxii. 17, where Mass. and Sam. have ‘gate’.

16. Goin peace: 1 Sam. i. 17.

XIX, 2. Read ‘second’ for ‘third’. This chapter uses much of Gen. xxiii, xxv. -
40

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 19. 3-24

3 οἵ this jubilee the days of the life of Sarah were accomplished, and she died in Hebron. And
Abraham went to mourn over her and bury her, and we tried him [to see] if his spirit were patient
and he were not indignant in the words of his mouth ; and he was found patient in this, and was not
4disturbed. For in patience of spirit he conversed with the children of Heth, to the intent that they
δ should give him a place in which to bury his dead. And the Lord gave him grace before all who
_ saw him, and he besought in gentleness the sons of Heth, and they gave him the land of the double
6 cave over against Mamre, that is Hebron, for four hundred pieces of silver. And they besought him,

saying, We shall give it to thee for nothing; but he would not take it from their hands for nothing,
for he gave the price of the place, the money in full, and he bowed down before them twice, and after
_ 7 this he buried his dead in the double cave. And all the days of the life of Sarah were one hundred
and twenty-seven years, that is, two jubilees and four weeks and one year: these are the days of the
g years of the life of Sarah. This is the tenth trial wherewith Abraham was tried, and he was found
ὁ faithful, patient in spirit. And he said not a single word regarding the rumour in the land how that
God had said that He would give it to him and to his seed after him, and he begged a place there to
bury his dead; for he was found faithful, and was recorded on the heavenly tablets as the friend of
God. And in the fourth year thereof he took a wife for his son Isaac and her name was Rebecca
[the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Nahor, the brother of Abraham] the sister of Laban and daughter
of Bethuel; and Bethuel was the son of Mélca, who was the wife of Nahor, the brother of Abraham.
απ And Abraham took to himself a third wife, and her name was Keturah, from among the daughters
of his household servants, for Hagar had died before Sarah. And she bare him six sons, Zimram,
32 and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah, in the two weeks of years. And in
13 the sixth week, in the second year thereof, Rebecca bare to Isaac two sons, Jacob and Esau, and
Jacob was a smooth and upright man, and Esau was fierce, a man of the field, and hairy, and Jacob
14 dwelt in tents. And the youths grew, and Jacob learned to write; but Esau did not learn, for he
15 was a man of the field and a hunter, and he learnt war, and all his deeds were fierce. And Abraham
16 loved Jacob, but Isaac loved Esau. And Abraham saw the deeds of Esau, and he knew that in
__ Jacob should his name and seed be called ; and he called Rebecca and gave commandment regarding
17 Jacob, for he knew that she (too) loved Jacob much more than Esau. And he said unto her:
My daughter, watch over my son Jacob,
For he shall be in my stead on the earth,
And for a blessing in the midst of the children of men,
¢ And for the glory of the whole seed of Shem.
18 For I know that the Lord will choose him to be a people for possession unto Himself, above all
19 peoples that are upon the face of the earth. And behold, Isaac my son loves Esau more than Jacob,
but I see that thou truly lovest Jacob.

zo Add still further to thy kindness to him,

And let thine eyes be upon him in love ;

For he shall be a blessing unto us on the earth from henceforth unto all generations of the earth.
Let thy hands be strong

And let thy heart rejoice in thy son Jacob ;

For I have loved him far beyond all my sons.

He shall be blessed for ever,
And his seed shall fill the whole earth.

22 Ifa man can number the sand of the earth,
His seed also shall be numbered.

23 And all the blessings wherewith the Lord hath blessed me and my seed shall belong to Jacob and
24 his seed alway. And in his seed shall my name be blessed, and the name of my fathers, Shem, and

ἊΝ

5. double-cave: as LXX.
four hundred : as Latin; Eth. gives 40.
9. friend of God: cf. xxx. 20 and xxiv. 15; Isa. xli, 8; 2 Chr. xx. 7; Dan. iii. 35 (LXX); James ii. 23; Clem.
Rom. x. 1, xvii. 2; Targ.-Jer. on Gen. xviii. 17 and Philo, De Sobrietate 11.
10, daughter . . . Bethuel, emended with help of Latin.
_11. daughters: Lat.; Eth. has ‘sons’. Author explains why Abraham did not take Hagar back. Later view
identified Hagar and Keturah. Cf. Jerome, Quaest. Hebr. in Gen. xxv. 1; Beer, Leben Abrahams, 83-198.
ἜΣ δροσόος to later Jewish tradition Abraham did not live to see Esau’s sin; Ps.-Jon. on Gen. χχν. 9; Ber.
ral 3.
18. possession. See χνΐ. 18: Deut. vii. 6.
peoples restored from Latin.

2020 A.M.

2046 A.M.

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 19. 24—20. 8

25 Noah, and Enoch, and Mahalalel, and Enos, and Seth, and Adam. And these shall serve
To lay the foundations of the heaven,
And to strengthen the earth,
And to renew all the luminaries which are in the firmament.
26 And he called Jacob before the eyes of Rebecca his mother, and kissed him, and blessed him, and
27 said: ‘ Jacob, my beloved son, whom my soul loveth, may God bless thee from above the firmament,
and may He give thee all the blessings wherewith He blessed Adam, and Enoch, and Noah, and
Shem; and all the things of which He told me, and all the things which He promised to give me,
may he cause to cleave to thee and to thy seed for ever, according to the days of heaven above the
28 earth. And the spirits of Mastéma shall not rule over thee or over thy seed to turn thee from the
29 Lord, who is thy God from henceforth for ever. And may the Lord God be a father to thee and
30 thou the first-born son, and to the people alway. Go in peace, my son.’ And they both went forth
31 together from Abraham. And Rebecca loved Jacob, with all her heart and with all her soul, very
much more than Esau; but Isaac loved Esau much more than Jacob.

Abraham admonishes his sons and his sons’ sons to work righteousness, observe circumcision, and
refrain from impurity and idolatry, 1-10. Dismisses them with gifts, τι. Dwelling-places of
the Ishmaelites and of the sons of Keturah, 12-13. (Cf. Gen. xxv. 5-6.)

20: And in the forty-second jubilee, in the first year of the tseventht week, Abraham called Ishmael,

2 and his twelve sons, and Isaac and his two sons, and the six sons of Keturah, and their sons. And he (?
commanded them that they should observe the way of the Lord ; that they should work righteous- a
ness, and love each his neighbour, and act on this manner amongst all men; that they should each

3 so walk with regard to them as to do judgment and righteousness on the earth. That they should
circumcise their sons, according to the covenant which He had made with them, and not deviate to the
right hand or the left of all the paths which the Lord had commanded us; and that we should keep
ourselves from all fornication and uncleanness, [and renounce from amongst us all fornication and

4 uncleanness]._ And if any woman or maid commit fornication amongst you, burn her with fire,
and let them not commit fornication with her after their eyes and their heart ; and let them not take
to themselves wives from the daughters of Canaan ; for the seed of Canaan will be rooted out of

5 the land. And he told them of the judgment of the giants, and the judgment of the Sodomites,
how they had been judged on account of their wickedness, and had died on account of their forni-
cation, and uncleanness, and mutual corruption through fornication. ἷ

6 ‘And guard yourselves from all fornication and uncleanness,
And from all pollution of sin,

Lest ye make our name a curse,
And your whole life a hissing,

And all your sons to be destroyed by the sword,
And ye become accursed like Sodom,
And all your remnant as the sons of Gomorrah.

7 Limplore you, my sons, love the God of heaven,
And cleave ye to all His commandments.

And walk not after their idols, and after their uncleannesses,
8 And make not for yourselves molten or graven gods;

For they are vanity,
And there is no spirit in them;

For they are work of (men’s) hands,
And all who trust in them, trust in nothing.

24. List of ‘righteous patriarchs’. Why is Methuselah omitted and Adam and Mahalalel inserted? Opinion
about Adam varied. Erubin 18 ὁ held him a saint. Sanh, 38 ὁ an atheist !

25. Cf. Isa. li. 16.

28. Cf. xv. 31-2.

XX. I. Read ‘sixth ’.for ‘ seventh ’.

twelve sons: Gen. xxv. 13-15.
2. sad’é (* war’) emended to saé’é (‘men’).
4- Cf. xli, 25. This punishment was restricted to priests’ daughters in Lev. xx. 10; Deut. xxii. 33; Ezek. xvi. 40.
6. make our name a curse, and your whole life a hissing: based on Isa. Ixv. 15 ; Jer. xxix. 18; 1 En, v. 6.
8. Deut. xxvii. 15 ; Exod. xx. 5.

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 20, 9—21. 8

_ Serve them not, nor worship them,
But serve ye the most high God, and worship Him continually :

_ And hope for His countenance always,
And work uprightness and righteousness before Him,

That He may have pleasure in you and grant you His mercy,
And send rain upon you morning and evening,

And bless all your works which ye have wrought upon the earth,
And bless thy bread and thy water,

And bless the fruit of thy womb and the fruit of thy land,
And the herds of thy cattle, and the flocks of thy sheep.

And ye will be for a blessing on the earth,
And all nations of the earth will desire you,

And bless your sons in my name,
That they may be blessed as I am.’

And he gave to Ishmael and to his sons, and to the sons of Keturah, gifts, and sent them away
2 from Isaac his son, and he gave everything to Isaac his son. And Ishmael and his sons, and the
sons of Keturah and their sons, went together and dwelt from Paran to the entering in of Babylon in
3 all the land which is towards the East facing the desert. And these mingled with each other, and
their name was called Arabs, and Ishmaelites.

Abraham's last words to Isaac regarding idolatry, the eating of blood, the offering of various sacrifices
and the use of salt,1-11._ Also regarding the woods to be used in sacrifice and the duty of wash-
ing before sacrifice and of covering blood etc., 12-25.

.1 And in the sixth year of the tseventh} week of this jubilee Abraham called Isaac his son, and 2057
commanded him: saying, ‘I am become old, and know uot the day of my death, and am full of my (? 2050)
2days. And behold, I am one hundred and seventy-five years old, and throughout all the days of my 4-™-
life I have remembered the Lord, and sought with all my heart to do His will, and to walk uprightly

8 ἴη all His ways. My soul has hated idols, (and I have despised those that served them, and I have
_ 4 given my heart and spirit) that I might observe to do the will of Him who created me. For He is
the living God, and He is holy and faithful, and He is righteous beyond all, and there is with Him
_ no accepting of (men’s) persons and no accepting of gifts ; for God is righteous, and executeth judg-
Ἵ 5 ment on all those who transgress His commandments and despise His covenant. And do thou, my
. son, observe His commandments and His ordinances and His judgments, and walk not after the
_ 6 abominations and after the graven images and after the molten images. And eat no blood at all of
> 7 animals or cattle, or of any bird which flies in the heaven. And if thou dost slay a victim as an
i acceptable peace offering, slay ye it, and pour out its blood upon the altar, and all the fat of the
offering offer on the altar with fine flour and the meat offering mingled with oil, with its drink
offering—offer them all together on the altar of burnt offering ; it is a sweet savour before the Lord.
8 And thou wilt offer the fat of the sacrifice of thank offerings on the fire which is upon the altar, and
the fat which is on the belly, and all the fat on the inwards and the two kidneys, and all the fat that

9. have pleasure in. Read di/igat for dérigat in Latin. The blessings are those of Deut. vii. 13, xxviii. 8, Exod.
xxiii. 25.

to. Cf. Gen. xii. 2.

13. Latin ‘ clave to the Arabs, and (they are) Ishmaelites, to this day’.

. XXI. These dying commands of Abraham about the ritual of sacrifice occur also in Test. Levi. ix, where, however, they
are put into the mouth of Isaac. Both accounts come from a common source, as has been made clear from the recent
discovery of the Aramaic and Greek Fragments relating to Levi. These deal with, among other things, the avoidance
of fornication (Frag., verses 16, 17 = T. Levi ix. 9, not explicitly in Jub.), ablutions of the sacrificing priest (19-21, 26,
ἴδ, = T. L. ix. 11, Jub. xxi. 16), words to be used in sacrifice (23-4 = T. L. ix. 12, Jub. xxi. 12) and salting the sacrifice
26, 29, 37-40 = T. L. ix. 14, Jub. xxi. 11). There is a reference back to Abraham in T. Levi. ix. 12 and Frag. 22,
50, 57-
1. For ‘seventh’ read ‘ sixth’, i. e. 2050 A.M.
Iam...death. Isaac’s words to Esau in Gen. xxvii. 2.
3. 0? added from the Latin ; lost in Eth. through hmt.
4. Deut. x. 17.
6. Lev. vii. 26.
7. Cf. 1 Sam. x. 8, xi. 15; Lev. iii. 7-10.
and the meat offering. Omitted in Latin. Cf. also Lev. ii. 4.

THE BOOK. OF JUBILEES 21. 8-24

9 is upon them, and upon the loins and liver thou shalt remove, together with the kidneys. And offer —
all these for a sweet savour acceptable before the Lord, with its meat-offering and with its drink-
10 offering, for a sweet savour, the bread of the offering unto the Lord. And eat its meat on that day
and on the second day, and let not the sun on the second day go down upon it till it is eaten, and
let nothing be left over for the third day ; for it is not acceptable [for it is not approved] and let it
no longer be eaten, and all who eat thereof will bring sin uponAkemselves; for thus I have found
it written in the books of my forefathers, and in the words o Enoch, and in the words of Noah.
11 And on all thy oblations thou shalt strew salt,and let not the salt ofthe covenant be lacking in all
12 thy oblations before the Lord. And as regards the wood of the sacrifices, beware lest thou bring
(other) wood for the altar in addition to these: cypress, bay, almond, fir, pine, cedar, savin, fig, olive,
13 myrrh, laurel, aspalathus. And of these kinds of wood lay upon the altar under the sacrifice, such
as have been tested as to their appearance, and do not lay (thereon) any split or dark wood, (but)
hard and clean, without fault, a sound and new growth; and do not lay (thereon) old wood, [for its
14 fragrance is gone] for there is no longer fragrance in it as before. Besides these kinds of wood there
is none other that thou shalt place (on the altar), for the fragrance is dispersed, and the smell of its
15 fragrance goes not up to heaven. Observe this commandment and do it, my son, that thou mayst
16 be upright in all thy deeds. And at all times be clean in thy body, and wash thyself with water
before thou approachest to offer on the altar, and wash thy hands and thy feet before thou drawest
17 Near to the altar ; and when thou art done sacrificing, wash again thy hands and thy feet. And let
no blood appear upon you nor upon your clothes ; be on thy guard, my son, against blood, be on thy
18 guard exceedingly ; cover it with dust. And do not eat any blood, for it is the soul; eat no blood
19 whatever. And take no gifts for the blood of man, lest it be shed with impunity, without judgment ;
for it is the blood that is shed that causes the earth to sin, and the earth cannot be cleansed from the
20 blood of man save by the blood of him who shed it. And take no present or gift for the blood of
man: blood for blood, that thou mayest be accepted before the Lord, the Most High God; for He
is the defence of the good: and that thou mayest be preserved from all evil, and that He may save
thee from every kind of death.

21 I see, my son,
That all the works of the children of men are sin and wickedness,
And all their deeds are uncleanness and an abomination and a pollution,
And there is no righteousness with them.

22 Beware, lest thou shouldest walk in their ways
And tread in their paths,
And sin a sin unto death before the Most High God.

Else He will [hide His face from thee,

And] give thee back into the hands of thy transgression,

And root thee out of the land, and thy seed likewise from under heaven,
And thy name and thy seed shall perish from the whole earth.

23 Turn away from all their deeds and all their uncleanness,
And observe the ordinance of the Most High God,
And do His will and be upright in all things.

24 ind He will bless thee in all thy deeds,
And will raise up from thee a plant of righteousness through all the earth, throughout all genera-
tions of the earth,
And my name and thy name shall not be forgotten under heaven for ever.

8. shalt remove: emended with Latin, #26/é/ for tell.

9. the bread, ἄς. Lev. iii. 11. ᾿ A : . esd

10. [ ] dittography. the books of my forefathers, handed by Shem to Abraham according to Pirke R. Eliezer viii.

11. salt of the covenant. Cf. Lev. ii. 13. MSS. read ‘ covenant of salt’. og “ ey :

12. Explains Exod. xxv. 5, 10. Cf. Greek Fragment 23-4 for a full discussion of this list of trees in my edition of
the Test. XII Patr., pp. 248-9.

13. Stricter than any known halachah; Tamid. ii. 3 allows all but vine and olive.

14. goes not up: negative inserted (Littmann).

16. Exod. xxx. 19-21.

17, 18. Lev. xvii. 13, 14; Deut. xii. 23.
19. Cf. Num. xxxv. 33.
the earth: emended by Dillmann from ‘its blood’.
20. thou mayest be accepted: MSS. vary. See Eth. Text.
21-4. Written originally in Hebrew verse. .
22. sin unto death: Num. xviii. 22; 1 John v. 16. Cf. xxvi. 34,
[ ] omitted as it spoils the parallelism.

THE BOOK ΟΕ JUBILEES 21. 25—22. 13

Go, my son, in peace. '

May the Most High God, my God and thy God, strengthen thee to do His will,

And may He bless all thy seed and the residue of thy seed for the generations for ever, with all
_ righteous blessings,

That thou mayest be a blessing on all the earth.’

And he went out from him rejoicing.

7 Isaac, Ishmael, and Facob celebrate the feast of first fruits at Beersheba with Abraham, 1-5. Prayer
of Abraham, 6-9. Abraham's last words to and blessings of Facob, 10-30.

1 And it came to pass in the {first} week in the }forty-fourth} jubilee, in the tsecondt} year, that
_ is, the year in which Abraham died, that Isaac and Ishmael came from the Well of the Oath to
celebrate the feast of weeks—that is, the feast of the first fruits of the harvest—to Abraham, their
2 father, and Abraham rejoiced because his two sons had come. For Isaac had many possessions in
3 Beersheba, and Isaac was wont to go and see his possessions and to return to his father. And in
_ those days Ishmael came to see his father, and they both came together, and Isaac offered a sacrifice
4 for a burnt offering, and presented it on the altar of his father which he had made in Hebron. And
he offered a thank offering and made a feast of joy before Ishmael, his brother: and Rebecca made
new cakes from the new grain, and gave them to Jacob, her son, to take them to Abraham, his father,
" from the first fruits of the land, that he might eat and bless the Creator of all things before he died.
_ § And Isaac, too, sent by the hand of Jacob to Abraham a best thank offering, that he might eat and
6 drink. And he eat and drank, and blessed the Most High God,
Η Who hath created heaven and earth,
Who hath made all the fat things of the earth,
And given them to the children of men
That they might eat and drink and bless their Creator.
_ 7‘And now I give thanks unto Thee, my God, because thou hast caused me to see this day: behold,
I am one hundred three score and fifteen years, an old man and full of days, and all my days have
8 been unto me peace. The sword of the adversary has not overcome me in all that Thou hast given
g me and my children all the days of my life until this day. My God, may Thy mercy and Thy peace
be upon Thy servant, and upon the seed of his sons, that they may be to Thee a chosen nation and
- an inheritance from amongst all the nations of the earth from henceforth unto all the days of the
zo generations of the earth, unto all the ages.’ And he called Jacob and said: ‘My son Jacob, may
the God of all bless thee and strengthen thee to do righteousness, and His will before Him, and may
He choose thee and thy seed that ye may become a people for His inheritance according to His will

τι alway. And do thou, my son, Jacob, draw near and kiss me.’ And he drew near and kissed him,
and he said:

‘Blessed be my son Jacob
And all the sons of God Most High, unto all the ages :

May God give unto thee a seed of righteousness ;
And some of thy sons may He sanctify in the midst of the whole earth ;

᾿ May nations serve thee,
And all the nations bow themselves before thy seed.

12 Be strong in the presence of men,
And exercise authority over all the seed of Seth.

Then thy ways and the ways of thy sons will be justified,
So that they shall become a holy nation.

-13 May the Most High God give thee all the blessings
τ Wherewith He has blessed me

XXII. 1. All dates wrong. Read ‘sixth week, forty-second jubilee, seventh year’, i.e. 2051 A.M.
‘ 3. ‘both’ = Lat. utrigue easily emended from Eth. Cf. xxxi. 11.
4. Creator of all things: Sir. xxiv. 8 ; 2 Macc. i. 24, vii. 23.
6-9. Abraham’s thanksgiving and prayer.
8. sword of the adversary: Jer. vi. 25; Ps. ix. 7 (LXX).
11. may nations, ἄς. Cf. Gen. xxvii. 29. ; ;
12. seed of Seth: mankind. But in Num. xxiv. 17, ‘children of Sheth’ = ‘ children of confusion ’.

ἐν

to
ty

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 22 13-22

And wherewith He blessed Noah and Adam ;
May they rest on the sacred head of thy seed from generation to generation for ever.

And may He cleanse thee from all unrighteousness and impurity,
That thou mayest be forgiven all the transgressions; which thou hast committed ignorantly.

And may He strengthen thee,
And bless thee.
And mayest thou inherit the whole earth,

And may He renew His covenant with thee,

That thou mayest be to Him a nation for His inheritance for all the ages,

And that He may be to thee and to thy seed a God in truth and righteousness throughout all the
days of the earth.

And do thou, my son Jacob, remember my words,
And observe the commandments of Abraham, thy father :

Separate thyself from the nations,
And eat not with them :

And do not according to their works,
And become not their associate ;

For their works are unclean,
And all their ways are a pollution and an abomination and uncleanness.

They offer their sacrifices to the dead
And they worship evil spirits,

And they eat over the graves,
And all their works are vanity and nothingness.

They have no heart to understand
And their eyes do not see what their works are,

And how they err in saying to a piece of wood: ‘Thou art my God,’
And to a stone: ‘ Thou art my Lord and thou art my deliverer.’
[And they have no heart.]

And as for thee, my son Jacob,

May the Most High God help thee

And the God of heaven bless thee

And remove thee from their uncleanness and from all their error.

Be thou ware, my son Jacob, of taking a wife from any seed of the daughters of Canaan ;
For all his seed is to be rooted out of the earth.

For, owing to the transgression of Ham, Canaan erred,
And all his seed shall be destroyed from off the earth and all the residue thereof,
And none springing from him shall be saved on the day of judgment.

And as for all the worshippers of idols and the profane
(ὁ) There shall be no hope for them in the land of the living ;
(ε) And there shall be no remembrance of them on the earth ;

13. rest on the sacred head. Cf. Gen. xlix. 26 (Syr.). It implies 2 for “2.

14. unrighteousness: emended with Latin where Eth. reads ‘ defilement ’.

16. Jewish exclusiveness here traced to Abraham ; needed in second century B.c. A Jew could not eat with a
Gentile, because of (1) Law of ‘unclean meats’; cf. Deut. xii. 23; Lev. xi. 4, 7, 10-12, 13-20. (2) Idol sacrifices ;
cf. 1 a x. 20-9. See also Dan. i. 8-10; 1 Macc. i, 47, 62; 2 Macc. vi. 18-21. Cf. Mark ii. 16 for the Pharisaic .
attitude,

16. a pollution. An outstanding feature of Antiochus’ persecution ; 1 Macc. i. 46, 48, 63, iv. 43-8, iii. 51 ; 2 Macc.
ν᾿: 29; (XIV. 3) ῪΣ 2, 10. 8 Ὁ.

17. sacrifices to the dead: cf. Deut. xxvi. 14; Ps. ον]. 28; Sir. vii. 33; Tobit, ἵν. 17. They are attacked in Sir.
xxx. 18; Wisd. xiv. 15, xix. 3; Ov. Sibyl. viii. 382-4; Ep. Jer. 31, 32.

evil spirits: idols, as Deut. xxxii. 17; Lev. xvii. 7; Ps. evi. 37; 1 En. xix. 13 1 Macc. i. 43; Baruch, iv. 7.
eat over the graves: cf. Schwally, Das Leben nach dem Tode, 21-4.
18. Cf. Jer. ii. 27.
{ | Dittography spoils parallelism.
. Gen. xxviii. 1; Test. Lev. ix; Jub. xxv. 5, xxviii. 10, xxx. 7.
. the day ofjudgment. Cf. xxiii. 11, xxxvi. 10.
. the profane or ‘ the adversaries’. Both are easy emendations from the reading of a ὁ d.

Ὁ Ὁ
Ne O

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 22. 22—23. 9

As the children of Sodom were taken away from the earth
So will all those who worship idols be taken away.

Fear not, my son Jacob,
And be not dismayed, O son of Abraham:

May the Most High God preserve thee from destruction,
And from all the paths of error may he deliver thee.

24 This house have I built for myself that I might put my name upon it in the earth: [it is given to
thee and to thy seed for ever], and it will be named the house of Abraham ; it is given to thee and
to thy seed for ever ; for thou wilt build my house and establish my name before God for ever: thy
seed and thy name will stand throughout all generations of the earth.’

26 And he ceased commanding him and blessing him. And the two lay together on one bed, and
ἴ Jacob slept in the bosom of Abraham, his father’s father.and he kissed him seven times, and his
27 affection and his heart rejoiced over him. And he blessed him with all his heart and said: ‘ The
Most High God, the God of all, and Creator of all, who brought me forth from Ur of the Chaldees,
that he might give me this land to inherit it for ever, and that I might establish a holy seed—blessed
28 be the Most High for ever.’ And he blessed Jacob and said: ‘My son, over whom with all my heart
and my affection I rejoice, may Thy grace and Thy mercy be lift up upon him and upon his seed
20 alway. And do not forsake him, nor set him at nought from henceforth unto the days of eternity,
and may Thine eyes be opened upon him and upon his seed, that Thou mayst preserve him, and
30 bless him, and mayest sanctify him as a nation for Thine inheritance; And bless him with all Thy
blessings from henceforth unto all the days of eternity,and renew Thy covenant and Thy grace with
him and with his seed according to all Thy good pleasure unto all the generations of the earth.’

Abraham's death and burial, 1-8 (cf. Gen. xxv. 7-10). Decreasing years and increasing corruption
of mankind: Messianic woes: universal strife: the faithful rise up in arms to bring back the
faithless: Israel invaded by sinners of the Gentiles, 11-25. Renewed study of the law and
renewal of mankind: Messianic kingdom: blessed immortality of the righteous, 26-31.

1 And he placed two fingers of Jacob on his eyes, and he blessed the God of gods, and he covered
his face and stretched out his feet and slept the sleep of eternity, and was gathered to his fathers.
2 And notwithstanding all this Jacob was lying in his bosom, and knew not that Abraham, his father’s
3 father, was dead. And Jacob awoke from his sleep, and behold Abraham was cold as ice, and he
4 said: ‘ Father, father’; but there was none that spake, and he knew that he was dead. And he
arose from his bosom and ran and told Rebecca, his mother; and Rebecca went to Isaac in the
night, and told him; and they went together, and Jacob with them, and a lamp was in his hand, and
5 when they had gone in they found Abraham lying dead. And Isaac fell on the face of his father,
6 and wept and kissed him. And the voices were heard in the house of Abraham, and Ishmael his
son arose, and went to Abraham his father, and wept over Abraham his father, he and all the house
7 of Abraham, and they wept with a great weeping. And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in
the double cave, near Sarah his wife, and they wept for him forty days, all the men of his house, and
Isaac and Ishmael, and all their sons, and all the sons of Keturah in their places; and the days of
8 weeping for Abraham were ended. And he lived three jubilees and four weeks of years, one hundred
g and seventy-five years, and completed the days of his life, being old and full of days. For the days

25. commanding : from Hebrew MS, used technically of a man’s last will and testament (2 Sam. xvii. 23; 2 Kings
xx. 1; Isa. xxxviii. 1; Test. Reub. 1; Baba Bathra, 147 a, 151 ὁ).
27. Probably an interpolation—Jacob is not mentioned till the next verse.
28. I rejoice: cd; ‘rejoices’, ad.
be lift up upon him: from Num. vi. 26; Ps. iv. 6.
29. eyes be opened: Neh. i. 6; Dan. ix. 18; 1 Kings viii. 29, 52.

XXIII. 1. Cf. Gen. xlvi. 4. Closing the eyes strictly forbidden till death had ensued in Shabb. 151 ὁ.
stretched out: as Gen. xlix. 33 Eth. and Syr., but Mass., LXX, Vulg. = gathered up.
slept the sleep of eternity: as Jer. li. 39, 57.
5. Gen. Li.
7. days of inserted. Cf. Deut. xxxiv.8. MSS.vary. ὁ =‘ the lamentation of’; d@ = ‘lamentation and’; @c omit.
8. Cf. Gen. xxv. 8. See xxi. 1 of our text.
9. Men grow old quicker owing to the increasing degeneration.

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 38. 9-23

of the forefathers, of their life, were nineteen jubilees ; and after the Flood they began to grow less
than nineteen jubilees, and to decrease in jubilees, and to grow old quickly, and to be full of their
days by reason of manifold tribulation and the wickedness of their ways, with the exception of
10 Abraham. For Abraham was perfect in all his deeds with the Lord, and well-pleasing in righteous-
ness all the days of his life; and behold, he did not complete four jubilees in his life, when he had
1 grown old by reason of the wickedness, and was full of hisdays. And all the generations which shall
arise from this time until the day of the great judgment shall grow old quickly, before they complete
two jubilees, and their knowledge shall forsake them by reason of their old age [and all their know-
12 ledge shall vanish away]. And in those days, if a man live a jubilee and a-half of years, they shall say
regarding him: ‘He has lived long, and the greater part of his days are pain and sorrow and
13 tribulation, and there is no peace: For calamity follows on calamity, and wound on wound, and
tribulation on tribulation, and evil tidings on evil tidings, and illness on illness, and all evil judgments
such as these, one with another, illness and overthrow, and snow and frost and ice, and fever, and
chills, and torpor, and famine, and death, and sword, and captivity, and all kinds of calamities and
14 pains.’ And all these shall come on an evil generation, which transgresses on the earth: their works
15 are uncleanness and fornication, and pollution and abominations. Then they shall say: ‘ The days
of the forefathers were many (even), unto a thousand years, and were good; but, behold, the days of
our life, if a man has lived many, are three score years and ten, and, if he is strong, four score years,
16 and those evil, and there is no peace in the days of this evil generation.’ And in that generation the
sons shall convict their fathers and their elders of sin and unrighteousness, and of the words of their
mouth and the great wickednesses which they perpetrate, and concerning their forsaking the covenant
which the Lord made between them and Him, that they should observe and do all His command-
ments and His ordinances and all His laws, without departing either to the right hand or the left.
17 For all have done evil, and every mouth speaks iniquity and all their works are an uncleanness and
18 an abomination, and all their ways are pollution, uncleanness and destruction. Behold the earth
shall be destroyed on account of all their works, and there shall be no seed of the vine, and no oil; for
their works are altogether faithless, and they shall all perish together, beasts and cattle and birds, and
19 all the fish of the sea, on account of the children of men. And they shall strive one with another, the
young with the old, and the old with the young, the poor with the rich, the lowly with the great, and
the beggar with the prince, on account of the law and the covenant; for they have forgotten
commandment, and covenant, and feasts, and months, and Sabbaths, and jubilees, and all judgments.
20 And they shall stand (with bows and) swords and war to turn them back into the way ; but they shall
21 not return until much blood has been sked on the earth, one by another. And those who have
escaped shall not return from their wickedness to the way of righteousness, but they shall all exalt
themselves to deceit and wealth, that they may each take all that is his neighbour’s, and they shall
name the great name, but not in truth and not in righteousness, and they shall defile the holy of
22 holies with their uncleanness and the corruption of their pollution. And a great punishment shall

befall the deeds of this generation from the Lord, and He will give them over to the sword and to.

23 judgment and to captivity, and to be plundered and devoured. And He will wake up against them
the sinners of the Gentiles, who have neither mercy nor compassion, and who shall respect the person
of none, neither old nor young, nor any one, for they are more wicked and strong to do evil than all
the children of men.

And they shall use violence against Israel and transgression against Jacob,
And much blood shall be shed upon the earth,
And there shall be none to gather and none to bury.

to. when: ‘until’, text.

11. Here the Messianic kingdom seems to follow the judgment. But see ver. 30.

12. the greater part... sorrow. Ps. xc. 10 (LXX, Syr., Vulg.).

13-14. Melancholy account of Judah’s plight in his own day, i.e. early decades of second century B.C.

14. on the earth, ἄς. Emended with Lat.

15. those Eth. reads £ué//@ corrupt for ’e//i.

16. An account of the rise of the Chasids exactly parallel with 1 En. xc. 6, 7. ‘Lambs’ there are ‘sons’ here.

forsaking the covenant: cf. Hellenizers in Dan. xi. 30; 1 Macc. i. 15. Cf. Bousset, ZVZ7W, 1go0, p. 199.

17. Cf. 1 Macc. 1. 52. 11: 6,

18-24. The woes before the Messianic Age are a feature of all Apocalypse. Cf. Ezek. xxxviii. 20; Hos. iv. 3;
Zeph. i. 3; 4 Ezra v. 7, Or. Sibyl. iii. 796; Apoc. Bar. xxvii, xlviii. 31-7, Ixx. 2-10; 4 Ezra vi. 14-18, 21-4; Matth.
xxiv. 6-29 ; Sota ix. 15.

20. { ) supplied from Lat.

the way: cf. Isa, xxx. 21 ; Acts ix. 2, xiv. 9, xxiv. 22.

21. shall name: So Lat. Eth. is easily emended.

23. Describes religious wars of Judas Maccabaeus. The Syrian invasion is described in the language of Jer. vi. 23.
After 162 B.C. there was civil war in Judah, and peace with Syria. Thus this passage cannot be later than that date.

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 28. 24—24. 7

24 In those days they shall cry aloud,
And call and pray that they may be saved from the hand of the sinners, the Gentiles ;

But none shall be saved.

25 And the heads of the children shall be white with grey hair,
And a child of three weeks shall appear old like a man of one hundred years,
And their stature shall be destroyed by tribulation and oppression.

26 And in those days the children shall begin to study the laws,
And to seek the commandments,
And to return to the path of righteousness.

2] And the days shall begin to grow many and increase amongst those children of men
Till their days draw nigh to one thousand years,
And to a greater number of years than (before) was the number of the days.

28 And there shall be no old man
Nor one who is (not) satisfied with his days,
For all shall be (as) children and youths.

29 And all their days they shall complete and live in peace and in joy,
And there shall be no Satan nor any evil destroyer ;
For all their days shall be days of blessing and healing.

80 And at that time the Lord will heal His servants,
And they shall rise up and see great peace,
And drive out their adversaries.

And the righteous shall see and be thankful,

And rejoice with joy for ever and ever,
And shall see all their judgments and all their curses on their enemies.

31 And their bones shall rest in the earth,

And their spirits shall have much joy,

And they shall know that it is the Lord who executes judgment,

And shows mercy to hundreds and thousands and to all that love Him

_ 32 And do thou, Moses, write down these words; for thus are they written, and they record (them)
on the heavenly tablets for a testimony for the generations for ever.

Tsaac at the Well of Vision,1 (cf.Gen.xxv.11). Esau sells his birthright, 2-7 (cf. Gen. xxv. 29-34).
Tsaac goes down to Gerar, 8. Dealings between Isaac and Abimelech, 9-27. Isaac curses the
Philistines, 28-32. (Cf. Gen. xxvi. 1-6, 11, 13-25, 32, 33.)

x1 And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that the Lord blessed Isaac his son, and he
arose from Hebron and went and dwelt at the Well of the Vision in the first year of the third week 2073 a.m.
2 of this jubilee, seven years. And in the first year of the fourth week a famine began in the land, 2080 a.m.
3 besides the first famine, which had been in the days of Abraham. And Jacob sod lentil pottage,
and Esau came from the field hungry. And he said to Jacob his brother: ‘Give me of this red
pottage.’ And Jacob said to him: ‘Sell to me thy [primogeniture, this] birthright and I will give
4 thee bread, and also some of this lentil pottage.’ And Esau said in his heart: ‘I shall die; of
5 what profit to me is this birthright?’ And he said to Jacob: ‘I give it to thee.’ And Jacob said:
6 ‘ Swear to me, this day,’ and he sware unto him. And Jacob gave his brother Esau bread and pottage,
and he eat till he was satisfied, and Esau: despised his birthright ; for this reason was Esau’s name
ἡ called Edom, on account of the red pottage which Jacob gave him for his birthright. And Jacob became

24. sinners and gentiles practically synonymous. Cf. Gal. ii. 15.

26. Renewed study of the law brings spiritual transformation.

27. nigh to one thousand years: cf. iv. 30. As in Test. Levi. xviii all change is gradual.
28. Cf. Isa. Ixv. 20, whence ‘ not’ is inserted here.

29. no Satan: cf. Ass. Mos. x. 1, Jub. xl. 9, xlvi. 1, 2, 5. 5
Probably does not refer to a Resurrection to the Messianic kingdom. Our author’s eschatology is that of 1 En.

xci-civ. Judgement will be at the end of the Messianic kingdom, and precedes the spiritual bliss of the righteous.
31. Cf. 1 En. xci. 10, xcii. 3, ciii. 3, 4. The bodies rest, but the spirits rise.

XXIV. Cf. Gen. xxv. 11, 29-34, xxvi. 1-6, 13-25, 32, 33. No reference is made in 13 to Isaac’s lie regarding

Rebecca. For derivation of name of Edom in 6 cf. Gen. xxv. 29. :
3. red pottage. Text = ‘ wheaten pottage’, i.e. πυροῦ for muppod. Sell = ἀπόδου, which here means ‘sell’ ’agbe’e.

1105.2 49 E

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 24. 8-30

8 the elder, and Esau was brought down from his dignity. And the famine was over the land, and Isaac
departed to go down into Egypt in the second year of this week, and went to the king of the Philis-
9 tines to Gerar, unto Abimelech. And the Lord appeared unto him and said unto him: ‘Go not
down into Egypt; dwell in the land that I shall-tell thee of, and sojourn in this land, and I will
10 be with thee and bless thee. For to thee and to thy seed will I give all this land, and I will
establish My oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father, and I will multiply thy seed as the
11 stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all this land. And in thy seed shall all the nations of
the earth be blessed, because thy father obeyed My voice, and kept My charge and My command-
ments, and My laws, and My ordinances, and My covenant ; and now obey My voice and dwell in
12, 13 this land.’ And he dwelt in Gerar three weeks of years. And Abimelech charged concerning him,
and concerning all that was his, saying: ‘Any man that shall touch him or aught that is his shall
14 surely die.’ And Isaac waxed strong among the Philistines, and he got many possessions, oxen
15 and sheep and camels and asses and a great household. And he sowed in the land of the Philistines
and brought in a hundred-fold, and Isaac became exceedingly great, and the Philistines envied him.
16 Now all the wells which the servants of Abraham had dug during the life of Abraham, the Philistines
17 had stopped them after the death of Abraham, and filled them with earth And Abimelech
said unto Isaac: ‘Go from us, for thou art much mightier than we’; and Isaac departed thence in
18 the first year of the seventh week, and sojourned in the valleys of Gerar. And they digged again
the wells of water which the servants of Abraham, his father, had digged, and which the Philistines
had closed after the death of Abraham his father, and he called their names as Abraham his father
19 had named them. And the servants of Isaac dug a well in the valley, and found living water, and
the shepherds of Gerar strove with the shepherds of Isaac, saying: ‘The water is ours’; and Isaac
20 called the name of the well ‘ Perversity’, because they had been perverse with us. And they dug
a second well, and they strove for that also, and he called its name ‘Enmity’. And he arose from
thence and they digged another well, and for that they strove not, and he called the name of it
‘Room’, and Isaac said: ‘Now the Lord hath made room for us, and we have increased in the
21 Jand.’ And he went up from thence to the Well of the Oath, in the first year of the first week in the
22 forty-fourth jubilee. And the Lord appeared to him that night, on the new moon of the first month,
and said unto him: ‘I am the God of Abraham thy father; fear not, for I am with thee, and shall
bless thee and shall surely multiply thy seed as the sand of the earth, for the sake of Abraham my
23 servant. And he built an altar there, which Abraham his father had first built, and he called upon
24 the name of the Lord, and he offered sacrifice to the God of Abraham his father. And they digged
25 ἃ well and they found living water. And the servants of Isaac digged another well and did not find
water, and they went and told Isaac that they had not found water, and Isaac said: ‘I have sworn
26 this day to the Philistines and this thing has been announced to us.’ And he called the name of that
place the Well of the Oath; for there he had sworn to Abimelech and Ahuzzath his friend and
27 Phicol the prefect of his host. And Isaac knew that day that under constraint he had sworn to them
28 to make peace with them. And Isaac on that day cursed the Philistines and said: ‘Cursed be the
Philistines unto the day of wrath and indignation from the midst of all nations; may God make
them a derision and a curse and an object of wrath and indignation in the hands of the sinners the
29 Gentiles and in the hands of the Kittim. And whoever escapes the sword of the enemy and the
Kittim, may the righteous nation root out in judgment from under heaven; for they shall be the
enemies and foes of my children throughout their generations upon the earth.
30 And no remnant shall be left to them,
Nor one that shall be saved-on the day of the wrath of judgment ;
For for destruction and rooting out and expulsion from the earth is the whole seed of the Philistines
(reserved), ;
And there shall no longer be left for these Caphtorim a name or a seed on the earth.

14. household: mznisterium Lat. τς ΠΣ, Eth. has ‘ possession’.
19. The: ‘this’ in Eth. = def. article.
20. Enmity = σῇ emended from saéés = ‘narrow’. Lat. has zimicitias. An Ethiopic scribe has introduced the
antithesis of ‘narrow’ a$& opposed to ‘room’.
Room = se/f# emended from σελ ; so Lat. capacitas.
26. the prefect of his host. So Lat. Eth. has only ‘his prefect’.
28-32. Only intelligible during Maccabean wars; fierce hatred of Philistines.; cf. 1 Macc. x. 89, v. 68, x. 84,
Xvi. 10, xi. 62; Joseph. Amz. xiii. 13. 3. Cf. Bousset, Ζ ΖΡ, 1890, 200.
28. Cf. Hdt. i. 205, ii. 157-9 for the Philistines’ suffering at the hands of the Egyptians.
Kittim = Macedonians. Cf. 1 Macc. i. 1, viii. 5 ; Joseph. Amz. xi. 8. 4.
29. righteous nation: Judah under Maccabees.
generations: Lat. ; ‘days’, Eth.
30. these = ’¢//7 emended from #ué//?2 = ‘all’. Lat. = ‘these’.
Caphtorim = Philistines ; cf. Amos. ix. 7; Deut. ii. 23; Jer. xvii. 4.

208ο--
2101

2101

2108

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 24. 31—25. 14

31 For though he ascend unto heaven,
Thence shall he be brought down,

+And though he make himself strong on earth,}
Thence shall he be dragged forth,

And though he hide himself amongst the nations,
Even from thence shall he be rooted out ;

And though he descend into Sheol,

There also shall his condemnation be great,

And there also he shall have no peace.

32 And if he go into captivity,

By the hands of those that seek his life shall they slay him on the way,
And neither name nor seed shall be left to him on all the earth;

For into eternal malediction shall he depart.’

33 And thus is it written and engraved concerning him on the heavenly tablets, to do unto him on the
day of judgment, so that he may be rooted out of the earth.

Rebecca admonishes Facob not to marry a Canaanitish woman, 1-3. Facob promises to marry a
daughter of Laban despite the urgent requests of Esau that he should marry a Canaanitish
woman, 4-10. Rebecca blesses Facob, 11-23. (Cf. Gen. xxviii. 1-4.)

1 And in the second year of this week in this jubilee, Rebecca called Jacob her son, and spake unto
him, saying: ‘My son, do not take thee a wife of the daughters of Canaan, as Esau, thy brother,
who took him two wives of the daughters of Canaan, and they have embittered my soul with all their
unclean deeds: for all their deeds are fornication and lust, and there is no righteousness with them,

2 for (their deeds) are evil. And I, my son, love thee exceedingly, and my heart and my affection

3 bless thee every hour of the day and watch of the night. And now, my son, hearken to my voice,
and do the will of thy mother, and do not take thee a wife of the daughters of this land, but only of
the house of my father, and of my father’s kindred. Thou shalt take thee a wife of the house of my
father, and the Most High God will bless thee, and thy children shall be a righteous generation and

4a holy seed.’ And then spake Jacob to Rebecca, his mother, and said unto her: ‘Behold, mother,
I am nine weeks of years old, and I neither know nor have I touched any woman, nor have I betrothed

5 myself to any, nor even think of taking me a wife of the daughters of Canaan. For I remember,
mother, the words of Abraham, our father, for he commanded me not to take a wife of the daughters

6 of Canaan, but to take me a wife from the seed of my father’s house and from my kindred. I have
heard before that daughters have been born to Laban, thy brother, and I have set my heart on them

ἡ to take a wife from amongst them. And for this reason I have guarded myself in my spirit against
sinning or being corrupted in all my ways throughout all the days of my life; for with regard to lust

g and fornication, Abraham, my father, gave me many commands. And, despite all that he has com-
manded me, these two and twenty years my brother has striven with me, and spoken frequently to
me and said: ‘ My brother, take to wife a sister of my two wives’; but I refuse to do as he has done.

g 1 swear before thee, mother, that all the days of my life I will not take me a wife from the daughters

το Of the seed of Canaan, and I will not act wickedly as my brother has done. Fear not, mother ; be

1τ assured that I shall do thy will and walk in uprightness, and not corrupt my ways for ever.’ And
thereupon she lifted up her face to heaven and extended the fingers of her hands, and opened her
mouth and blessed the Most High God, who had created the heaven and the earth, and she gave Him
12 thanks and praise. And she said: ‘ Blessed be the Lord God, and may His holy name be blessed
for ever and ever, who has given me Jacob as a pure son and a holy seed ; for he is Thine, and Thine
13 shall his seed be continually and throughout all the generations for evermore. Bless him, O Lord,

31. tt Lat. = μόξ fugiens erit. Corruption originated in Hebrew apparently.

XXV. Gen. xxvii is put after Gen. xxviii. 1-4 to give more blame to Esau and to excuse Jacob.
4. Jacob is sixty-three when he receives the blessing, as in Ber. Rabb. 68 ; Seder Olam, 2.
neither, &c.: Syncell. i. 197 wrongly attributes this to Josephus.

51 E 2

2109 A.M.

14 and place in my mouth the blessing of righteousness, that I may bless him.’ And at that hour, when Ὁ

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 25. 14—26. 7

the spirit of righteousness descended into her mouth, she placed both her hands on the head of Jacob,
and said:

15 ‘Blessed art thou, Lord of righteousness and God of the ages ;
And may He bless thee beyond all the generations of men.

May He give thee, my son, the path of righteousness,
And reveal righteousness to thy seed.

16 And may He make thy sons many during thy life, .
And may they arise according to the number of the months of the year. |
And may their sons become many and great beyond the stars of heaven,
And their numbers be more than the sand of the sea. |

11 And may He give them this goodly land—as He said He would give it to Abraham and to his

seed after him alway—
And may they hold it as a possession for ever.

18 And may I see (born) unto thee, my son, blessed children during my life,
And a blessed and holy seed may all thy seed be.

19 And as thou hast refreshed thy mother’s spirit during thert life,
The womb of her that bare thee blesses thee thus,
[My affection] and my breasts bless thee
And my mouth and my tongue praise thee greatly.

zo Increase and spread over the earth,
And may thy seed be perfect in the joy of heaven and earth for ever ;

And may thy seed rejoice,
And on the great day of peace may it have peace.

21 And may thy name and thy seed endure to all the ages, |
And may the Most High God be their God,

And may the God of righteousness dwell with them,
And by them may His sanctuary be built unto all the ages.

22 Blessed be he that blesseth thee, .
And all flesh that curseth thee falsely, may it be cursed.’ .

23 And she kissed him, and said to him; |
‘May the Lord of the world love thee
As the heart of thy mother and her affection rejoice in thee and bless thee.’ |

And she ceased from blessing.

Isaac sends Esau for venison, 1-4. Rebecca instructs Facob to obtain the blessing, 5-9. Facob under ,
the person of Esau obtains it, 10-24. Esau brings in his venison and by his importunity obtains

a@ blessing, 25-34. Threatens Facob, 35. (Cf. Gen. xxvii.) |

26: And in the seventh year of this week Isaac called Esau, his elder son, and said unto him: ‘I am 2114

2 old, my son, and behold my eyes are dim in seeing, and I know not the day of my death. And now
take thy hunting weapons thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and hunt and catch me
(venison), my son, and make me savoury meat, such as my soul loveth, and bring it to me that I may

3 eat, and that my soul may bless thee before I die.’ But Rebecca heard Isaac speaking to Esau.
4,5 And Esau went forth early to the field to hunt and catch and bring home to his father. And
Rebecca called Jacob, her son, and said unto him: ‘Behold, I heard Isaac, thy father, speak unto
Esau, thy brother, saying: “ Hunt for me, and make me savoury meat, and bring (it) to me that

6 I may eat and bless,thee before the Lord before I die.’ And now, my son, obey my voice in that
which I command thee: Go to thy flock and fetch me two good kids of the goats, and I will make
them savoury meat for thy father, such as he loves, and thou shalt bring (it) to thy father that he

7 may eat and bless thee before the Lord before he die, and that thou mayst be blessed.’ And Jacob

14. spirit of righteousness (a 4d): cf. John xiv. 17, xv. 26, xvi. 3. For ‘ Holy Spirit’ (c) cf. Isa. Ixiii, 10, 11. =
17. as He said... alway. Cf. Luke i. 55.

19. thert. Read ‘thy’. [ ] out of place, or a dittography of O17}.
23. Ct..Sit, iV..10,

XXVI. Cf. Gen. xxvii. 1-41, often loosely rendered.

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 26. 7-30

said to Rebecca his mother: ‘ Mother, I shall not withhold anything which my father would eat, and
which would please him: only I fear, my mother, that he will recognise my voice and wish to touch
8me. And thou knowest that I am smooth, and Esau, my brother, is hairy, and I shall appear
before his eyes as an evildoer, and shall do a deed which he had not commanded me, and he will be
9 wroth with me, and I shall bring upon myself a curse, and not a blessing.’ And Rebecca, his
το mother, said unto him: ‘ Upon me be thy curse, my son, only obey my voice.’ And Jacob obeyed
the voice of Rebecca, his mother, and went and fetched two good and fat kids of the goats, and
II brought them to his mother, and his mother made them (savoury meat) such as he loved. And
Rebecca took the goodly raiment of Esau, her elder son, which was with her in the house, and she
clothed Jacob, her younger son, (with them), and she put the skins of the kids upon his hands and on
12 the exposed parts of his neck. And she gave the meat and the bread which she had prepared into
13 the hand of her son Jacob. And Jacob went in to his father and said: ‘I am thy son: I have done
according as thou badest me: arise and sit and eat of that which I have caught, father, that thy soul
15 may bless me.’ And Isaac said to his son: ‘ How hast thou found so quickly, my son?’ And Jacob
τό said: ‘ Because (the Lord) thy God caused me to find.’ And Isaac said unto him: ‘Come near, that
17 1 may feel thee, my son, if thou art my son Esau or not.’ And Jacob went near to Isaac, his father,
18 and he felt him and said: ‘ The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau,’ and he
discerned him not, because it was a dispensation from heaven to remove his power of perception and
19 Isaac discerned not, for his hands were hairy as (his brother) Esau’s, so that he blessed him. And he
said : ‘Art thou my son Esau?’ and he said: ‘I am thy son’: and he said, ‘Bring near to me that
20 I may eat of that which thou hast caught, my son, that my soul may bless thee.’ And he brought
21 near to him, and he did eat, and he brought him wine and he drank. And Isaac, his father, said unto
22 him: ‘Come near and kiss me, my son. And he came near and kissed him. And he smelled the
smell of his raiment, and he blessed him and said: ‘ Behold, the smell of my son is as the smell of

a (full) field which the Lord hath blessed.

23 And may the Lord give thee of the dew of heaven
And of the dew of the earth, and plenty of corn and oil:

Let nations serve thee,
And peoples bow down to thee.
24 Be lord over thy brethren,
And let thy mother’s sons bow down to thee ;
And may all the blessings wherewith the Lord hath blessed me and blessed Abraham, my father,
Be imparted to thee and to thy seed for ever:

Cursed be he that curseth thee,
And blessed be he that blesseth thee.’

ἑ 25 And it came to pass as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing his son Jacob, and Jacob had gone
_ 26 forth from Isaac his father the hid himself and} Esau, his brother, came in from his hunting. And

ἱ
Ϊ
᾿
᾿
\

i he also made savoury meat, and brought (it) to his father, and said unto his father: ‘Let my father
; 27 arise, and eat of my venison that thy soul may bless me.’ And Isaac, his father, said unto him:
} _ ‘Who art thou?’ And he said unto him: ‘I am thy first born, thy son Esau: I have done as thou hast
28 commanded me.’ And Isaac was very greatly astonished, and said: ‘ Who is he that hath hunted and
caught and brought (it) to me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have blessed him:

29 (and) he shall be blessed, and all his seed for ever.’ And it came to pass when Esau heard the words
of his father Isaac that he cried with an exceeding great and bitter cry, and said unto his father:

30 Bless me, (even) me also, father.’ And he said unto him: ‘Thy brother came with guile, and hath
taken away thy blessing.’ And he said: ‘ Now I know why his name is named Jacob: behold, he

hath supplanted me these two times: he took away my birth-right, and now he hath taken away

74. Added by author in favour of Jacob.
Io, ἐὰε Added from Latin.
5 Lord). Supplied from Latin. caused me to find (4c): Latin direxit.
18. A dispensation to assist the deceit! Clause borrowed from 1 Kings xii. 15, ‘a thing brought about of the Lord’,
{ > supplied from Lat.
19. Lam thy son. An evasion—not so bad as Ber. Rabb. 65.
22. (full) added from Latin. So Sam., LXX, and Vulg., cf. Gen. xxvii. 272. Mass. omits.
23. dew of the earth. So Gen. xxvii. 28 in Eth. version.
give thee: /cd add ‘and multiply thee’, while @ transposes it before ‘ give thee’.
pees: MSS. add before ‘ plenty’ the words ‘ may He give plentifully to thee’, against the parallelism and
Gen. xxvii. 28.
25. he hid himself and. This seems an addition. Read ‘that’.
30. I know why = οἶδα ὡς perhaps corrupt for δικαίως, Cf. Gen. xxvii. 36.

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 26. 31—27. 14

31 my blessing.’ And he said: ‘ Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me, father?’ and Isaac answered
and said unto Esau:
‘Behold, I have made him thy lord,
And all his brethren have I given to him for servants,
And with plenty of corn and wine and oil have I strengthened him:
And what now shall I do for thee, my son?’
32 And Esau said to Isaac, his father :
‘Hast thou but one blessing, O father ?
Bless me, (even) me also, father :’
33 And Esau lifted up his voice and wept. And Isaac answered and said unto him:
‘Behold, far from the dew of the earth shall be thy dwelling,
And far from the dew of heaven from above.

34 And by thy sword wilt thou live,
And thou wilt serve thy brother.

And it shall come to pass when thou becomest great,
And dost shake his yoke from off thy neck,
Thou shalt sin a complete sin unto death,
And thy seed shall be rooted out from under heaven.’
35 And Esau kept threatening Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him, and he
said in his heart: ‘ May the days of mourning for my father now come, so that I may slay my brother

Jacob.’

Rebecca alarmed at Esau's threats prevails on Isaac to send Facob to Mesopotamia, 1-12. Isaac
comforts Rebecca on the departure of Facob, 13-18. Facob’s dream and vow at Bethel, 19-27.
(Cf. Gen. xxviii.)

27:1 And the words of Esau, her elder son, were told to Rebecca in a dream, and Rebecca sent and
2 called Jacob her younger son, and said unto him: ‘ Behold Esau thy brother will take vengeance on

3 thee so as to kill thee. Now, therefore, my son, obey my voice, and arise and flee thou to Laban,
my brother, to Haran, and tarry with him a few days until thy brother's anger turns away, and he
remove his anger from thee, and forget all that thou hast done ; then I will send and fetch thee from
4,5 thence.’ And Jacob said: ‘I am not afraid; if he wishes to kill me, I will kill him.’ But she said
6 unto him: ‘Let me not be bereft of both my sons on one day.’ And Jacob said to Rebecca his
mother: ‘ Behold, thou knowest that my father has become old, and does not see because his eyes are
dull, and if I leave him it will be evil in his eyes, because I leave him and go away from you, and
my father will be angry, and will curse me. I will not go; when he sends me, then only will I go.’
7,8 And Rebecca said to Jacob: ‘I will go in and speak to him, and he will send thee away.’ And
Rebecca went in and said to Isaac: ‘I loathe my life because of the two daughters of Heth, whom
Esau has taken him as wives; and if Jacob take a wife from among the daughters of the land such

g as these, for what purpose do I further live ; for the daughters of Canaan are evil.’ And Isaac called
10 Jacob and blessed him, and admonished him and said unto him: ‘ Do not take thee a wife of any of | -
the daughters of Canaan; arise and go to Mesopotamia, to the house of Bethuel, thy mother’s father,

11 and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban, thy mother’s brother. And God
Almighty bless thee and increase and multiply thee that thou mayest become a company of nations,
and give thee the blessings of my father Abraham, to thee and to thy seed after thee, that thou
mayest inherit the land of thy sojournings and all the land which God gave to Abraham: go, my

12 son, in peace.’ And Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Mesopotamia, to Laban the son of
13 Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebecca, Jacob's mother. --And it came to pass after Jacob had
14 arisen to go to Mesopotamia that the spirit of Rebecca was grieved after her son,and she wept. And

34. becomest great = ‘abaika (ὁ). ac =‘refusest? =’adaika, a corruption of ὁ. The text here agrees with the
Sam. VINN, Gen. xxvii. 40. The Mass. = 1M, which the versions variously translate. The LXX gives καθέλῃς, i.e.
TUN from TV.

sin a complete sin unto death, &c.: changed contrary to all tradition. This version is adopted by Syncell.
i, 202 and Glycas. 263 (who, however, attributes it to Josephus). For ‘ sin unto death’ cf. xxi. 22.
35. Note malicious turn here given to Esau’s words in Gen. xxvii. 41.

XXVII. 1-5. Cf. Gen. xxvii. 42-5. in adream: Ps -Jon. on Gen. xxvii. 42 ‘ by the Holy Spirit’.
6. Cf. xii. 31. Defends Jacob from the reproach of leaving his old father (Singer).

8. Cf. Gen. xxvii. 46. :

9-12. Gen. xxviii. 1-5.

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 27. 14—28. 6

Isaac said to Rebecca: ‘ My sister, weep not on account of Jacob, my son ; for he goeth in peace, and
15 in peace will he return. The Most High God will preserve him from all evil, and will be with him ;
16 for He will not forsake him all his days; For I know that his ways will be prospered in all things
17 wherever he goes, until he return in peace to us, and we see him in peace. Fear not on his account,
my sister, for he is on the upright path and he is a perfect man: and he is faithful and will not perish.
19 Weep not.’ And Isaac comforted Rebecca on account of her son Jacob, and blessed him. And Jacob
went from the Well of the Oath to go to Haran on the first year of the second week in the forty-
fourth jubilee, and he came to Luz on the mountains, that is, Bethel, on the new moon of the first 2115 a.m.
month of this week, and he came to the place at even and turned from the way to the west of the
zo toad that night: and he slept there; for the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that
21 place and laid (it at his head) under the tree, and he was journeying alone, and he slept. And he
dreamt that night, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven, and
behold, the angels of the Lord ascended and descended on it: and behold, the Lord stood upon it.
_ 22 And he spake to Jacob and said: ‘I am the Lord God of Abraham, thy father, and the God of
23 Isaac ; the land whereon thou art sleeping, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed after thee. And
thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt increase to the west and to the east, to the
24 north and the south, and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the nations be blessed. And
behold, I will be with thee, and will keep thee whithersoever thou goest, and I will bring thee
again into this land in peace; for I will not leave thee until I do everything that I told thee of.’
25 And Jacob awoke from his sleep, and said, ‘ Truly this place is the house of the Lord, and I knew
it ποῖ. And he was afraid and said: ‘ Dreadful is this place which is none other than the house of
_ 26 God, and this is the gate of heaven.’ And Jacob arose early in the morning, and took the stone
which he had put under his head and set it up as a pillar for a sign, and he poured oil upon the top
of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of the place was Luz at the first.
27 And Jacob vowed a vow unto the Lord, saying: ‘If the Lord will be with me, and will keep me in
this way that I go, and give me bread to eat and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my
father’s house in peace, then shall the Lord be my God, and this stone which I have set up as a pillar
for a sign in this place, shall be the Lord’s house, and of all that thou givest me, I shall give the tenth
to thee, my God.’

Facob marries Leah and Rachel, 1-10. His children by Leah and Rachel and by their handmaids,
11-24. Facob seeks to leave Laban, 25: but stays on at a certain wage, 26-8. Facob becomes
rich, 29-30. (Cf. Gen. xxix. 1, 17,18, 21-35; xxx. 1-13, 17-22, 24, 25, 28, 32, 39, 433 xxxi.
1, 2.)

1 And he went. on his journey, and came to the land of the east, to Laban, the brother of Rebecca,
2 and he was with him, and served him for Rachel his daughter one week. And in the first year of 2122 A.M.
the third week he said unto him: ‘Give me my wife, for whom I have served thee seven years’; and
3 Laban said unto Jacob: ‘I will give thee thy wife.’ And Laban made a feast, and took Leah his
elder daughter, and gave (her) to Jacob as a wife, and gave her Zilpah his handmaid for an hand-
4 maid; and Jacob did not know, for he thought that she was Rachel. And he went in unto her, and
behold, she was Leah; and Jacob was angry with Laban, and said unto him: ‘ Why hast thou dealt
thus with me? Did not I serve thee for Rachel and not for Leah? Why hast thou wronged me?
5 Take thy daughter, and I will go; for thou hast done evil to me.’ For Jacob loved Rachel more
than Leah; for Leah’s eyes were weak, but her form was very handsome; but Rachel had beautiful
6 eyes and a beautiful and very handsome form. And Laban said to Jacob: ‘It is not so done in our
country, to give the younger before the elder.’ And it is not right to do this; for thus it is ordained
and written in the heavenly tablets, that no one should give his younger daughter before the elder—
but the elder, one gives first and after her the younger—and the man who does so, they set down
guilt against him in heaven, and none is righteous that does this thing, for this deed is evil before the

14. My sister: affectionate term for wife; ‘cf. Tobit v. 21, vii. 15, viii. 4, 7; Song of Solomon iv, 9, 10, 12, v. I.
Compare Isaac’s answer to Abimelech’s men in Gen. xxvi. 7. 5 ;

16. will be prospered: so Lat. ; ‘he will prosper’, Eth.

17. on the upright path: Lat. So 4, or perhaps ‘ upright in his way’.

19-27. Gen. xxviii. 10-22. $

zo. Add with Latin ‘at his head’, Genesis has not ‘ under the tree’, This was probably an asherah.

25 a. MSS. corrupt; ‘ slept a sleep’ emended to ‘ awoke from his sleep’.

XXVIII. Cf. Gen, xxix. 1, 17, 18, 21-29, Xxx. 2, 43, XXXi. I, 2.
6. No hint of this ordinance in tradition (Singer, Beer). Lev. xviii, 18 expressly forbade Jacob’s conduct in marry-
ing both sisters. Cf. Justin, Dia/. Trypho. 134.
55

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 28. 7-30

7 Lord. And command thou the children of Israel that they do not this thing ; let them neither take
8 nor give the younger before they have given the elder, for it is very wicked, And Laban said to
Jacob: ‘ Let the seven days of the feast of this one pass by, and I shall give thee Rachel, that thou
mayst serve me another seven years, that thou mayst pasture my sheep as thou didst in the former
g week,’ And on the day when the seven days of the feast of Leah had passed, Laban gave Rachel
to Jacob, that he might serve him another seven years, and he gave to Rachel Bilhah, the sister of
το Zilpah, as a handmaid. And he served yet other seven years for Rachel, for Leah had been given
11 to him for nothing. And the Lord opened the womb of Leah, and she conceived and bare Jacob
a son, and he called his name Reuben, on the fourteenth day of the ninth month, in the first year of 2122
12 the third week. But the womb of Rachel was closed, for the Lord saw that Leah was hated and
13 Rachel loved. And again Jacob went in unto Leah, and she conceived, and bare Jacob a second son,
and he called his name Simeon, on the twenty-first of the tenth month, and in the third year of this 2124
14 week. And again Jacob went in unto Leah, and she conceived, and bare him a third son, and he
15 called his name Levi, in the new moon of the first month in the sixth year of this week. And again 2124
Jacob went in unto her, and she conceived, and bare him a fourth son, and he called his name Judah,
16 on the fifteenth of the third month, in the tfirstt year of the {fourth} week. And on account of all 2129
this Rachel envied Leah, for she did not bear, and she said to Jacob: ‘Give me children’; and Jacob
17 said: ‘ Have I withheld from thee the fruits of thy womb? Have I forsaken thee?’ And when Rachel
saw that Leah had borne four sons to Jacob, Reuben and Simeon and Levi and Judah, she said unto
18 him: ‘Go in unto Bilhah my handmaid, and she will conceive, and bear a son unto me.’ (And she
gave (him) Bilhah her handmaid to wife). And he went in unto her, and she conceived, and bare
him a son, and he called his name Dan, on the ninth of the sixth month, in the sixth} year of the 2127
19 tthirdt week. And Jacob went in again unto Bilhah a second time, and she conceived, and bare
Jacob another son, and Rachel called his name Napthali, on the fifth of the seventh month, in the 2130
20 Second year of the fourth week. And when Leah saw that she had become sterile and did not bear,
she envied Rachel, and she also gave her handmaid Zilpah to Jacob to wife, and she conceived, and
bare a son, and Leah called his name Gad, on the twelfth of the eighth month, in the third year of 2131
21 the fourth week. And he went in again unto her, and she conceived, and bare him a second son, and
Leah called his name Asher, on the second of the eleventh month, in the jfiftht year of the fourth 2133
22 week. And Jacob went in unto Leah, and she conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name
Issachar, on the fourth of the fifth month, in the tfourth} year of the fourth week, and she gave him 2132
23toanurse. And Jacob went in again unto her, and she conceived, and bare two (children), a son
and a daughter, and she called the name of the son Zabulon, and the name of the daughter Dinah, 2134
24 in the seventh of the seventh month, in the sixth year of the fourth week. And the Lord was
gracious to Rachel, and opened her womb, and she conceived, and bare a son, and she called his 2134
25 name Joseph, on the new moon of the fourth month, in the tsixth} year in this fourth week. And
in the days when Joseph was born, Jacob said to Laban: ‘Give me my wives and sons, and let me
go to my father Isaac, and let me make me an house; for I have completed the years in which I
26 have served thee for thy two daughters, and I will go to the house of my father.’ And Laban said
to Jacob: ‘+Tarry with me for thy wages}, and pasture my flock for me again, and take thy wages.’
27 And they agreed with one another that he should give him as his wages those of the lambs and kids
28 Which were born black and spotted and fwhitet, (these) were to be his wages. And all the sheep
brought forth spotted and speckled and black, variously marked, and they brought forth again
lambs like themselves, and all that were spotted were Jacob’s and those which were not were
29 Laban’s. And Jacob’s possessions multiplied exceedingly, and he possessed oxen and sheep and
30 asses and camels, and menservants and maid-servants.. And Laban and his sons envied Jacob, and
Laban took back his sheep from him, and he observed him with evil intent.

8. Rachel given to Jacob as soon as Leah’s wedding feast (seven days) was over,

9. Zilpah and Bilhah: sisters, as in Test. Naph. i.

11-24. Twelve sons of Jacob, as in Gen, xxix. 32-4, xxx. I-24, xxxv. 17-18, In date of birth, all lists differ.
Various explanations are given. Cf. also Syncell. i. 198 ; Fabric. i. 749-54; Rénsch, 327-9. See Test. XII Patri-
archs passim ; Euseb. Praep. Ev. ix. 21. See my Comm, 170-2.

18. { ) added from Lat. and Gen, xxx. 4.

26. tarry with me for thy wages: ‘expecta me in mercede’, Lat. Both seem wrong. Gen, xxx. 28 has
‘ Appoint (73p3) me thy wages ’.

27-28, See my Eth. text for emendations,

27. Read ‘speckled ’ for ‘ white’.

29. and sheep: only in LXX of Gen, xxx. 43.

>
Pal
Ψ

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 29. 1-20

Facob departs secretly, 1-4. Laban pursues after him, 5-6. Covenant of Facob and Laban, 7-8.
Abodes of the Amorites (anciently of the Rephaim) destroyed in the time of the writer, 9-\\.
Laban departs,12. Facob is reconciled to Esau, 13. Facob sends supplies of food to his parents
Sour times a year to Hebron, 14-17, 19-20. Esau marries again, 18. (Cf. Gen. xxxi. 3, 4, 10,
13, 19, 21, 23, 24, 46, 47; xxxii. 22; xxxiii, 10, 16.)

I And it cameto pass when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Laban went to shear his sheep ; for they
2 were distant from him a three days’ journey. And Jacob saw that Laban was going to shear his
sheep, and Jacob called Leah and Rachel, and spake kindly unto them that they should come with
3 him to the land of Canaan. For he told them how he had seen everything in a dream, even all that
He had spoken unto him that he should return to his father’s house; and they said: ‘To every place

4 whither thou goest we will go with thee. And Jacob blessed the God of Isaac his father, and the
God of Abraham his father’s father, and he arose and mounted his wives and his children, and took
all his possessions and crossed the river, and came to the land of Gilead, and Jacob hid his intention
5 from Laban and told him not. And in the seventh year of the fourth week Jacob turned (his face)
toward Gilead in the first month, on the twenty-first thereof. And Laban pursued after him and
6 overtook Jacob in the mountain of Gilead in the third month, on the thirteenth thereof. And the
Lord did not suffer him to injure Jacob; for he appeared to him in a dream by night. And Laban
7 spake to Jacob. And.on the fifteenth of those days Jacob made a feast for Laban, and for all who
came with him, and Jacob sware to Laban that day, and Laban also to Jacob, that neither should
8 cross the mountain of Gilead to the other with evil purpose. And he made there a heap for
9 a witness ; wherefore the name of that place is called: ‘The Heap of Witness,’ after this heap. But
before they used to call the land of Gilead the land of the Rephaim; for it was the land of the
Rephaim, and the Rephaim were born (there), giants whose height was ten, nine, eight down to
10 seven cubits. And their habitation was from the land of the children of Ammon to Mount Hermon,
11 and the seats of their kingdom were Karnaim and Ashtaroth,and Edrei,and Misir,and Beon. And
the Lord destroyed them because of the evil of their deeds; for they were very malignant, and the
Amorites dwelt in their stead, wicked and sinful, and there is no people to-day which has wrought
12 to the full all their sins, and they have no longer length of life on the earth. And Jacob sent away
Laban, and he departed into Mesopotamia, the land of the East, and Jacob returned to the land of
13 Gilead. And he passed over the Jabbok in the ninth month, on the eleventh thereof. And on that
day Esau, his brother, came to him, and he was reconciled to him, and departed from him unto
14 the land of Seir, but Jacob dwelt in tents. And in the first year of the fifth week in this jubilee he
crossed the Jordan, and dwelt beyond the Jordan, and he pastured his sheep from the sea fof the

15 heapt unto Bethshan, and unto Dothan and unto the }forestt of Akrabbim. And he sent to ,his..

father Isaac of all his substance, clothing, and food, and meat, and drink, and milk, and butter, and
16 Cheese, and some dates of the valley, And to his mother Rebecca also four times a year,’between the
times of the months, between ploughing and reaping, and between autumn and the rain (season)
17 and between winter and spring, to the tower of Abraham. For Isaac had returned from the Well
of the Oath and gone up to the tower of his father Abraham, and he dwelt there apart from his son
18 Esau. For in the days when Jacob went to Mesopotamia, Esau took to bimself a wife Mahalath,
the daughter of Ishmael, and he gathered together all the flocks of his father and his wives, and went
19 up and dwelt on Mount Seir, and left Isaac his father at the Well of he Oath alone. And Isaac
went up from the Well of the Oath and dwelt in the tower of Abrahacn his father on the mountains
20 of Hebron, And thither Jacob sent all that he did send to his father and his mother from time to
time, all they needed, and they blessed Jacob with all their heart g4d with all their soul.

XXIX. 1-6. Cf. Gen. xxxi. 3, 4, 10, 13, 19, 20, 21, 24.
4. hid. AsLXXandOnk, Mass., Sam., Syr. = ‘stole’.
7-8. Gen. xxxi. 46, 47.
7. tothe other. See Eth. text.
9 foll. Places mentioned are scenes of great Maccabean victories.
Rephaim (Gen. xiv. 5; Deut. 111,11); Edrei: Og’s capital (Jos!
xv. 8); Beon (Num. xxxii. 3, destroyed by Judas Maccabaeus (1
‘Scythopolis ’ (cf. 2 Macc. xii. 29), friendly to the Maccabees; Jothan (Gen. xxxvii. 17; Judith iv. 6, vii. 3); the
forest of Akrabbim.—Read ‘the ascent’ of Akrabbim (Numb, xxiv. 4; Joshua xv, 3). ἵ
13. passed... Jabbok. Gen, xxxii.22. on the eleventh tfereof. Lat. has ‘et undecim filii ipsius’,
he was reconciled. So Lat. Eth. easily emended.
15-16, Another proof of Jacob’s filial piety.
16. rain is ‘former rain’; falls from middle of October to m# dle of December.
between winter and spring = the latter rain in March ari! April.
18, Put in to show Esau’s selfishness.

I Macc. ν. 26, 43, 443 2 Macc. xii. 21, 26.
xii. 4, ΧΙ], 12, 31) ; Misfir (Deut. iii.10; Joshua
cc. v. 4, 5); Bethshan (1 Macc. v. 52, xii. 40) =

2135 AM.

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 80. 1-13

Dinah ravished, 1-3. Slaughter of the Shechemites, 4-6. Laws against intermarriage between
Israel and the heathen, 7-17. Levi chosen for the priesthood on account of his slaughter of the
Shechemites, 18-23. Dinah recovered, 24. Facob’s reproof,25-6. (Cf. Gen. xxxiii. 18, xxxiv.
2, 4, 7, 13-14, 25-30, XXXV. 5.)

30: And in the first year of the sixth week he went up to Salem, to the east of Shechem, in peace, in
2the fourth month. And there they carried off Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, into the house of
Shechem, the son of Hamor, the Hivite, the prince of the land, and he lay with her and defiled her,

3 and she was a little girl, a child of twelve years. And he besought his father and her brothers that
she might be given to him to wife. And Jacob and his sons were wroth because of the men of
Shechem ; for they had defiled Dinah, their sister, and they spake to them with evil intent and dealt

4 deceitfully with them and beguiled them. And Simeon and Levi came unexpectedly to Shechem
and executed judgment on all the men of Shechem, and slew all the men whom they found in it,
and left not a single one remaining in it: they slew all in torments because they had dishonoured

5 their sister Dinah. And thus let it not again be done from henceforth that a daughter of Israel be
defiled ; for judgment is ordained in heaven against them that they should destroy with the sword

6 all the men of the Shechemites because they had wrought shame in Israel. And the Lord delivered
them into the hands of the sons of Jacob that they might exterminate them with the sword and
execute judgment upon them, and that it might not thus again be done in Israel that a virgin of

7 Israel should be defiled. And if there is any man who wishes in Israel to give his daughter or his
sister to any man who is of the seed of the Gentiles he shall surely die, and they shall stone him
with stones; for he hath wrought shame in Israel ; and they shall burn the woman with fire, because

8 she has dishonoured the name of the house of her father, and she shall be rooted out of Israel. And
let not an adulteress and no uncleanness be found in Israel throughout all the days of the generations
of the earth; for Israel is holy unto the Lord, and every man who has defiled (it) shall surely die:

9 they shall stone him with stones. For thus has it been ordained and written in the heavenly tablets
regarding all the seed of Israel: he who defileth (it) shall surely die, and he shall be stoned with
1o stones. And to this law there is no limit of days, and no remission, nor any atonement: but the
man who has defiled his daughter shall be rooted out in the midst of all Israel, because he has given

11 of his seed to Moloch, and wrought impiously so as to defile it. And do thou, Moses, command the
children of Israel and exhort them not to give their daughters to the Gentiles, and not to take for
12 their sons any of the daughters of the Gentiles, for this is abominable before the Lord. For this
reason I have written for thee in the words of the Law all the deeds of the Shechemites, which they
wrought against Dinah, and how the sons of Jacob spake, saying: ‘We will not give our daughter
£2 δ 8 man who is uncircumcised ; for that were a reproach unto us.’ And it is a reproach to Israel, to
those who give, and to those that take the daughters of the Gentiles; for this is unclean and

XXX. 1. to Salem. . . in peace combines interpretations of all versions of Gen, xxxiii. 18 where Sam. reads ον).

1-3. Gen. xxiv. 2-|[ζ- ae a ἢ

2. child of twelve. ‘f. Test. Levi xii. 5 and Jub. xxviii. 14, 23, which together make her eleven.

2-6. The history of Jacv>’s connexion with the Shechemites caused much trouble to our author. He could hardly _
approve of their slaughter xfter they had consented to circumcision. Accordingly he omits all reference to the ἡ
circumcision of the Shechemites, as also does Josephus (Avz, 1. 21. 1). On the other hand, this is given as the reason
for Jacob’s anger against Simeos and Levi in Test. Levi vi: καὶ ἤκουσεν ὁ πατήρ, kai ὠργίσθη, καὶ ἐλυπήθη, ὅτι κατεδέξαντο
τὴν περιτομὴν καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ἀπέθαν.υ, Notwithstanding the severe disapprobation of Simeon and Levi in Gen. xlix. 5-7
for their conduct in this matter, it vas highly extolled in the two centuries preceding the Christian era, This is done
in our text and in Test. Levi v, whet: the angel bids Levi ποίησον ἐκδίκησιν ἐν Συχὲμ ὑπὲρ Aivas, κἀγὼ ἔσομαι μετά σου,
ὅτι κύριος ἀπέσταλκέ με. καὶ συνετέλεσα τῷ καιρῷ εκείνῳ τοὺς υἱοὺς ᾿Εμμώρ, καθὼς γέγραπται ἐν ταῖς πλαξὶ τῶν οὐρανῶν : and
in the Test. Levi vi-vii, where Levi τἰνς that he saw that ‘the sentence of God had gone forth for evil against
Shechem’, and still more strongly : &t σε δὲ ἡ ὀργὴ κυρίου én’ αὐτοὺς eis τέλος. Again in Judith (a Hebrew work of
the first cent. B.C.) ix. 2: κύριε o Geos TOU T rods μου Συμεών, ᾧ ἔδωκας ἐν χειρὶ ῥομφαίαν eis ἐκδίκησιν ἀλλογενῶν, ot ἔλυσαν
μήτραν παρθένου εἰς μίασμα καὶ ἐγυμνῶσαν μηβῳ εἰς αἰσχύνην, κτλ. Again in Philo, De d/igr. Abraham, 39, Simeon and
Levi are called of φρονήσεως ἀκουσταὶ καὶ γνῶρμοι for their action in this matter, and in the next few lines it is implied
that Shechem was not circumcised. See als\ the Book of Jashar for a reproduction of the ancient favourable view of
Simeon and Levi (Déct. des Apocr. il. 1166-8) Jn the late rabbinic tradition, however, Simeon and Levi are judged
more in accordance with the sentence pronout.eq ypon them in Gen. xlix. In Gen. rabba 80, it is true, there is some
extenuation of their conduct ; but in section 98 ¢ the same work it is said that the fact that most of the poor were of
the tribe of Simeon is to be traced to the curse + Gen, xlix. 7. Singer (p. 115 note) compares also Sifre on Deut.
xxxiil. ὃ. ᾿ ᾿
Ρ 7. Cf. xli, 17. To our author, marriage with «Gentile was no better than fornication. To give your daughter
toa non-Israelite was to give her ‘to Moloch’, an’ merited the same penalty, i.e. death by stoning. Cf. Lev. xx, 2.
A woman was to be treated as Tamar was threaten jn Gen, xxxviii or a priest’s daughter commanded in Lev. xxi. 9.

το. given. . . to Moloch. Cf. Ps.-Jon. on Lt, xviii, 21; Sanh. 82a; Megill. 25a. Perhaps this dates from
Maccabean Age, when extreme measures were n€€Cq, Contrast Megill. iv. 9.
11. for their sons. So Latin. > bcd. A=, i.e, lalihémé, corrupt for daweélidémi, = ‘ for their sons’.
12. we will not. Cf. Gen. xxxiv. 14.
58

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 80. 14—381. 2

14 abominable to Israel. .And Israel will not be free from this uncleanness if it has a wife of the
daughters of the Gentiles, or has given any of its daughters to a man who is of any of the Gentiles.
15 For there will be plague upon plague, and curse upon curse, and every judgment and plague and
curse will come (upon him): if he do this thing, or hide his eyes from those who commit uncleanness,
or those who defile the sanctuary of the Lord, or those who profane His holy name, (then) will the
16 whole nation together be judged for all the uncleanness and profanation of this man. And there
will be no respect of persons fand no consideration of persons], and no receiving at his hands of fruits
and offerings and burnt-offerings and fat, nor the fragrance of sweet savour, so as to accept it: and
17 so fare every man or woman in Israel who defiles the sanctuary. For this reason I have commanded
thee, saying : ‘ Testify this testimony to Israel: see how the Shechemites fared and their sons: how
they were delivered into the hands of two sons of Jacob, and they slew them under tortures, and it
18 was (reckoned) unto them for righteousness, and it is written down to them for righteousness. And
the seed of Levi was chosen for the priesthood, and to be Levites, that they might minister before
the Lord, as we, continually, and that Levi and his sons may be blessed for ever; for he was zealous
19 to execute righteousness and judgment and vengeance on all those who arose against Israel. And
so they inscribe as a testimony in his favour on the heavenly tablets blessing and righteousness before
20 the God of all: And we remember the righteousness which the man fulfilled during his life, at all
periods of the year ; until a thousand generations they will record it, and it will come to him and to
his descendants after him, and he has been recorded on the heavenly tablets as a friend and a righteous
21man. All this account I have written for thee, and have commanded thee to say to the children of
Israel, that they should not commit sin nor transgress the ordinances nor break the covenant which
22 has been ordained for them, (but) that they should fulfil it and be recorded as friends. But if they
transgress and work uncleanness in every way, they will be recorded on the heavenly tablets as adver-
saries, and they will be destroyed out of the book of life, and they will be recorded in the book of
23 those who will be destroyed and with those who will be rooted out of the earth. And on the day
when the sons of Jacob slew Shechem a writing was recorded in their favour in heaven that they had
| executed righteousness and uprightness and vengeance on the sinners, and it was written for a blessing.

24 And they brought Dinah, their sister, out of the house of Shechem, and they took captive everything
that was in Shechem, their sheep and their oxen and their asses, and all their wealth, and all their

25 flocks, and brought them all to Jacob their father. And he reproached them because they had put
the city to the sword ; for he feared those who dwelt in the land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites.

26 And the dread of the Lord was upon all the cities which are around about Shechem, and they did
not rise to pursue after the sons of Jacob; for terror had fallen upon them.

Facob goes to Bethel to offer sacrifice, 1-3 (cf. Gen. xxxv. 2-4, 7,14). Isaac blesses Levi, 4-17, and
Fudah, 18-22. Facob recounts to Isaac how God prospered him, 24. Facob goes to Bethel with
Rebecca and Deborah, 26-30. Facob blesses the God of his fathers, 31-2.

$11 And on the new moon of the month Jacob spake to all the people of his house, saying: ‘ Purify
yourselves and change your garments, and let us arise and go up to Bethel, where I vowed a vow to

¢ Him on the day when I fled from the face of Esau my brother, because he has been with me and
f 2 brought me into this land in peace, and put ye away the strange gods that are among you.’ And
‘ they gave up the strange gods and that which was in their ears and which was fon their necks,t}
and the idols which Rachel stole from Laban her father she gave wholly to Jacob. And he burnt

14. Based on Lev. xx, 2-4.
15. (upon him) from Latin.
whole nation : an extension of the area of guilt to justify the massacre; cf. charges in Test. Levi vi against the
Shechemites in general.
profanation of this man = Lat. Eth. = ‘this profanation’.

16. [1 dittography; Latin omits.

18. for he was zealous, &c. Contrast xxxii. 3 (Levi became priest as the tenth son); Test. Levi iv (in answer to
his prayer); Shem. Rabb. 19 (the Levites’ constancy in Egypt in retaining circumcision). Cf. Weber, Δ 7.? 309,
Singer (115 note) for different motives for God’s choice of Levi.

22. transgress: Latin+/estamentum. book of life: cf. 1 En. xlvii. 3. Latin has ‘ of destructions’ instead of ‘ of
those who will be destroyed’. .

24. Gen. xxxiii. 26, 28.

25. reproached : needed by sense of context for ‘ spake to them’ (Eth. and Latin) ; cf. Test. Levi vi. 6.

26. Cf. Gen. xxxv. 5. .

XXXI. 1, 2. Gen. xxxv. 2-4.
2. gave up (matawéwimi) emended from masawéwémi,,‘ melted’,
on their necks. Read perhaps ‘in their hands’. If so, take ‘ which were in their hands’ after ‘ gods’.
her father (δηλ) : for ‘ her brother’ (2274/4).
59

Rg ee «

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 381. 2-17

and brake them to pieces and destroyed them, and hid them under an oak which is in the land of

3 Shechem. And he went up on the new moon of the seventh month to Bethel. And he built an

altar at the place where he had slept, and he set up a pillar there, and he sent word to his father

4 Isaac to come to him to his sacrifice, and to his mother Rebecca. And Isaac said: ‘Let my son

5 Jacob come, and let me see him before I die.’ And Jacob went to his father Isaac and

to his mother Rebecca, to the house of his father Abraham, and he took two of his sons

with him, Levi and Judah, and he came to his father Isaac and to his mother Rebecca.

6 And Rebecca came forth from the tower to the front of it to kiss Jacob and embrace

him ; for her spirit had revived when she heard: ‘Behold Jacob thy son has come’; and she kissed

7 him. And she saw his two sons, and she recognised them, and said unto him: ‘ Are these thy sons,

my son?’ and she embraced them and kissed them, and blessed them, saying: ‘In you shall the

8 seed of Abraham become illustrious, and ye shall prove a blessing on the earth.’ And Jacob went in

to Isaac his father, to the chamber where he lay, and his two sons were with him, and he took the

hand of his father, and stooping down he kissed him, and Isaac clung to the neck of Jacob his son,

g and wept upon his neck. And the darkness left the eyes of Isaac, and he saw the two sons of Jacob,

10 Levi, and Judah, and he said: ‘ Are these thy sons, my son? for they are like thee.’ And he said

unto him that they were truly his sons: ‘And thou hast truly seen that they are {truly my sons’.

11 And they came near to him, and he turned and kissed them and embraced them both together.

12 And the spirit of prophecy came down into his mouth, and he took Levi by his right hand and

13 Judah by his left. And he turned to Levi first, and began to bless him first, and said unto him:

‘May the God of all, the very Lord of all the ages, bless thee and thy children throughout all the

14ages. And may the Lord give to thee and to thy seed {greatness and great gloryt, and cause thee

and thy seed, from among all flesh, to approach Him to serve in His sanctuary as the angels of the

presence and as the holy ones. (Even) as they, shall the seed of thy sons be for glory and greatness

15 and holiness,and may He make them great unto all the ages. And they shall be judges and princes,
and chiefs of all the seed of the sons of Jacob;

They shall speak the word of the Lord in righteousness,
And they shall judge all His judgments in righteousness.

And they shall declare My ways to Jacob
And My paths to Israel.

The blessing of the Lord shall be given in their mouths
To bless all the seed of the beloved.

16 Thy mother has called thy name Levi,
And justly has she called thy name ;

Thou shalt be joined to the Lord
And be the companion of all the sons of Jacob ;

Let His table be thine,
And do thou and thy sons eat thereof;

And may thy table be full unto all generations,
And thy food fail not unto all the ages.

11 And let all who hate thee fall down before thee,
And let all thy adversaries be rooted out and perish ;

3, 4. Cf. Test. Levi ix,
5. Last meeting with Isaac and Rebecca, unknown to later Haggada,
10. truly: Lat. has ‘father’. So read ’addd in Eth. for ’amdn.
11. both: Lat. wrosgue. Eth. kué//émi corrupt for kel ’éhému. Cf. xxii. 3.
13. Cf. Test. Levi ix. -
14. t t Lat. = ‘ great seed to understand His glory.’
holy ones here = ‘ angels of sanctification’ ; cf. ii. 2, 18, xv. 27. Cf. Test. Levi iii (Arm.) for one or two orders
of ministering angels.
may He make them great: Latin sanctificabit.
15. Describes early Maccabean princes (kings as well as priests); cf. Test. Levi viii. The latter passage refers
to John Hyrcanus. Cf. Bousset, ZV7W, 1900, 165 ; Joseph. Az. xiii. το. 7.
the blessing of the Lord shall be given in their mouths: cf. Sir. ]. 20, Test. Reub. vi.
16. Cf. Gen. xxix. 34; Numb. xviii. 2-4, play on words, The Lat. has instead of ‘joined to the Lord’ ad decorem
Dei =? ‘a crown’.
Let His table be thine: cf. Test. Judah xxi; Test. Levi viii.
60

i 4“ “Δ, αν ν΄ ἀψ'

ee Σ ae

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 31. 17—82. 1

And blessed be he that blesses thee,
_ And cursed be every nation that curses thee.’

18 And to Judah he said:
‘May the Lord give thee strength and power

To tread down all that hate thee ;
A prince shalt thou be, thou and one of thy sons, over the sons of Jacob ;

May thy name and the name of thy sons go forth and traverse every land and region.
Then shall the Gentiles fear before thy face,

And all the nations shall quake
[And all the peoples shall quake].

19 In thee shall be the help of Jacob,
And in thee be found the salvation of Israel.

zo And when thou sittest on the throne of honour of thy righteousness
There shall be great peace for all the seed of the sons of the beloved ;

Blessed be he that blesseth thee,
And all that hate thee and afflict thee and curse thee
Shall be rooted out and destroyed from the earth and be accursed.’

21 And turning he kissed him again and embraced him, and rejoiced greatly ; for he had seen the
22 sons of Jacob his son in very truth. And he went forth from between his feet and fell down and
bowed down to him, and he blessed them and rested there with Isaac his father that night, and they
23 eat and drank with joy. And he made the two sons of Jacob sleep, the one on his right ay eae the
24 other on his left, and it was counted to him for righteousness. And Jacob told his father eVerything
during the night, how the Lord had shown him great mercy, and how he had prospered (him in) all
25 his ways, and protected him from all evil. And Isaac blessed the God of his father Abraham, who
26 had not withdrawn his mercy and his righteousness from the sons of his servant Isaac. And in the
morning Jacob told his father Isaac the vow which he had vowed to the Lord, and the vision which
he had seen, and that he had built an altar, and that everything was ready for the sacrifice to be
27 made before the Lord as he had vowed, and that he had come to set him onanass. And Isaac said
unto Jacob his son: ‘I am not able to go with thee; for I am old and not able to bear the way: go,
my son, in peace; for I am one hundred and sixty-five years this day; I am no longer able to
28 journey ; set thy mother (on an ass) and let her go with thee. And I know, my son, that thou hast
come on my account, and may this day be blessed on which thou hast seen me alive, and I also have
29 seen thee, my son. Mayest thou prosper and fulfil the vow which thou hast vowed ; and put not off
thy vow; for thou shalt be called to account as touching the vow; now therefore make haste to
perform it, and may He be pleased who has made all things, to whom thou hast vowed the vow.’
30 And he said to Rebecca: ‘Go with Jacob thy son’; and Rebecca went with Jacob her son, and
31 Deborah with her, and they came to Bethel. And Jacob remembered the prayer with which his
father had blessed him and his two sons, Levi and Judah, and he rejoiced and blessed the God of his
32 fathers, Abraham and Isaac. And he said: ‘Now I know that I have an eternal hope, and my sons
also, before the God of all’; and thus is it ordained concerning the two; and they record it as an
eternal testimony unto them on the heavenly tablets how Isaac blessed them.

Levi's dream at Bethel,1. Levi chosen to the priesthood, as the tenth son, 2-3. Facob celebrates the
Seast of tabernacles and offers tithes through Levi: also the second tithe, 4-9. Law of tithes
ordained, 10-15. Facob’s visions in which Facob reads on the heavenly tablets his own future
and that of his descendants, 16-26. Celebrates the eighth day of feast of tabernacles, 27-9.
Death of Deborah, 30. Birth of Benjamin and death of Rachel, 33-4. (Cf. Gen. xxxv. 8, 10,
II, 13, 16-20.)

And he abode that night at Bethel, and Levi dreamed that they had ordained and made him the
priest of the Most High God, him and his sons for ever; and he awoke from his sleep and blessed
18-19. Cf. Test. Levi xviii; Reub. vi: Signs of Messiah’s coming. Asin 1 En.xc He has no active part to play,
but springs from Judah (‘one of thy sons’). This seems to be the earliest instance of the presence of a Messiah in a

temporary Messianic kingdom ; cf. xxiii. 30.

18, thy name; i.e. that of the Jewish people. [ ] bracketed as dittography.
20. honour... peace. 80 ἐδ. But c reads ‘honour ; thy righteousness shall be great peace’.

XXXII. Cf. Test. Levi v, viii, ix.
1. priest of the Most High God : title assumed by the Maccabean priest-kings ; cf. Ass. Mos. vi. 1; Josephus,
Ant. xvi. 6. 2; Ps. cx. 1-4 (acrostic on Simon as Bickell has shown) ; Rosh-ha-Shanah 18 ὁ. See Test. Levi viii. 14.
61

THE BOOK OF. JUBILEES 82. 2-24

2the Lord. And Jacob rose early in the morning, on the fourteenth of this month, and he gavé a
tithe of all that came with him, both of men and cattle, both of gold and every vessel and garment,

3 yea, he gave tithes of all. And in those days Rachel became pregnant with her son Benjamin.
And Jacob counted his sons from him upwards and Levi fell to the portion of the Lord, and his

4 father clothed him in the garments of the priesthood and filled his hands. And on the fifteenth of
this month, he brought to the altar fourteen oxen from amongst the cattle, and twenty-eight rams,
and forty-nine sheep, and seven lambs, and twenty-one kids of the goats as a burnt-offering on the

5 altar of sacrifice, well pleasing for a sweet savour before God. This was his offering, in consequence
of the vow which he had vowed that he would give a tenth, with their fruit-offerings and their drink-

6 offerings. And when the fire had consumed it, he burnt incense on the fire over the fire, and for a
thank-offering two oxen and four rams and four sheep, four he-goats, and two sheep of a year old,

z and two kids of the goats; and thus he did daily for seven days. And he and all his sons and his
men were eating (this) with joy there during seven days and blessing and thanking the Lord, who

8 had delivered him out of all his tribulation and had given him his vow. And he tithed all the clean
animals, and made a burnt sacrifice, but the unclean animals he gave (not) to Levi his son, and he

9 gave him all the souls of the men. And Levi discharged the priestly office at Bethel before Jacob
his father in preference to his ten brothers, and he was a priest there, and Jacob gave his vow: thus
10 he tithed again the tithe to the Lord and sanctified it, and it became holy unto Him. And for this
reason it is ordained on the heavenly tablets as a law for the tithing again the tithe to eat before the
Lord from year to year, in the place where it is chosen that His name should dwell, and to this law

11 there is no limit of days for ever. This ordinance is written that it may be fulfilled from year to
year in eating the second tithe before the Lord in the place where it has been chosen, and nothing
12 shall remain over from it from this year to the year following. or in its year shall the seed be
eaten till the days of the gathering of the seed of the year, and the wine till the days of the wine,
13 and the oil till the days of its season. And all that is left thereof and becomes old, let it be regarded
14 85 polluted: let it be burnt with fire, for it is unclean. And thus let them eat it together in the
15 sanctuary, and let them not suffer it to become old. And all the tithes of the oxen and sheep shall
be holy unto the Lord, and shall belong to his priests, which they will eat before Him from year to
16 year ; for thus is it ordained and engraven regarding the tithe on the heavenly tablets. And on the
following night, on the twenty-second day of this month, Jacob resolved to build that place, and to
surround the court with a wall, and to sanctify it and make it holy for ever, for himself and his children

17 after him. And the Lord appeared to him by night and blessed him and said unto him: ‘Thy name ~~

18 shall not be called Jacob, but Israel shall they name thy name. And He said unto him again: ‘I
am the Lord who created the heaven and the earth, and I will increase thee and multiply thee
exceedingly, and kings shall come forth from thee, and they shall judge everywhere wherever the foot

19 of the sons of men has trodden. And I will give to thy seed all the earth which is under heaven,
and they shall judge all the nations according to their desires, and after that they shall get possession

20 of the whole earth and inherit it for ever.’ And He finished speaking with him, and He went up

21 from him. and Jacob looked till He had ascended into heaven. And he saw in a vision of the night,
and behold an angel descended from heaven with seven tablets in his hands, and he gave them to
Jacob, and he read them and knew all that was written therein which would befall him and his sons

22 throughout all the ages. And he showed him all that was written on the tablets, and said unto him:
‘Do not build this place, and do not make it an eternal sanctuary, and do not dwell here ; for this is
not the place. Go to the house of Abraham thy father and dwell with Isaac thy father until the day

23 of the death of thy father. For in Egypt thou shalt die in peace, and in this land thou shalt be buried

24 with honour in the sepulchre of thy fathers, with Abraham and Isaac. Fear not, for as thou hast
seen and read it, thus shall it all be; and do thou write down everything as thou hast seen and read.’

3. Known to Syncell. i. 200; probably to Cedren. i. 60; new version in P, R. Eliezer, xxxvii.
filled his hands: a technical expression, as Exod. xxviii. 41, xxix. 9.
4. Celebration of Feast of ‘ Tabernacles’ differs from Lev. xxiii. 34-44 and Numb. xxix. 12-40.
seven lambs: Lat. sef/em; Eth. = sixty, but the heptadic system is here followed.
twenty-one: Lat. Eth. = twenty-nine (ἐννέα for ἔνα).
altar of sacrifice: i.e. γιεσλευᾶ ἃ guerbdn emended according to Lat, altarium fructuum from meshwd'd
querbdna (a).
8. Corrects Test. Levi ix. Unclean animals are excepted.
9 tithed, &c.: Numb. xviii. 26.
10. eat before the Lord: cf. Deut. xiv. 22; Tobit i. 7.
15. tithes of the oxen and sheep: cf. Lev. xxvii. 32; 2 Chron. xxxi. 6. These tithes were unknown to Nehemiah,
Neh. x. 37-9; xii. 44-7, xiii. 5, 12, and were limited to yearly increase by later Rabbis. Cf. Rosh-ha-Shanah, 1.
17-20. Cf. Gen. xxxv. 10-13. 19 is a great exaggeration of Gen, xxxv. 12.
21. tablets: cf. 4 Ezra xiv. 24.
knew: cmended with Latin. Text =‘read.’ Both words may be dittographic renderings of ἀνέγνω,
62

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 82. 25—33. 14

25 And Jacob said: ‘Lord, how can I remember all that I hawe read and seen?’ And he said unto
26 him: ‘I will bring all things to thy remembrance.’ And ‘he went up from him, and he awoke from
his sleep, and he remembered everything which he had read and seen, and he wrote down all the
27 words which he had read and seen. And he celebrated. there yet another day, and he sacrificed
thereon according to all that he sacrificed on theormer days, and called its name +‘ Addition,’} for
28 +this day was added. and the former days he called ‘The Feast’. And thus it was manifested that
it should be, and it is written on the heavenly tablets: wherefore it was revealed to him that he should
‘29 celebrate it, and add it to the seven days of the feast. And its name was called +‘ Addition,’}
tbecause that} it was recorded amongst the days of the feast days, faccording tof the number of
30 the days of the year. And in the night, on the twenty-third of this month, Deborah Rebecca’s nurse
died, and they buried her beneath the city under the oak of the river, and he called the name of this
31 place, ‘The river of Deborah, and the oak, ‘The oak of the mourning of Deborah.’ And Rebecca
went and returned to her house to his father Isaac, and Jacob sent by her hand rams and sheep and
32 he-goats that she should prepare a meal for his father such as he desired. And he went after his
33 mother till he came to the land of Kabratan, and he dwelt there. And Rachel bare a son in the
night. and called his name ‘Son of my sorrow’; for she suffered in giving him birth: but his father
called his name Benjamin, on the eleventh of the eighth month in the first of the sixth week of this
34 jubilee. “And Rachel died there and she was buried in the land of Ephrath, the same is Bethlehem,
and Jacob built a pillar on the grave of Rachel, on the road above her grave.

Reuben sins with Bilhah, 1-9 (cf. Gen xxxv. 21, 22). Laws regarding incest, 10-20. Facob’s
children, 22. (Cf. Gen. xxxv. 23-7.)

1. And Jacob went and dwelt to the south of Magdaladra’éf. And he went to his father Isaac, he
2 and Leah his wife, on the new moon of the tenth month. And Reuben. saw Bilhah, Rachel's maid,
3 the concubine of his father, bathing in water in a secret place,and he loved her. And he hid himself
at night, and he entered the house of Bilhah [at night], and he found her sleeping alone on a bed in
4her house. And he lay with her, and she awoke and saw, and behold Reuben was lying with. her in
the bed, and she uncovered the border of her covering and seized him, and cried out, and discovered
5 that it was Reuben. And she was ashamed because of him, and released her hand from him, and he
7 fled. And she lamented because of this thing exceedingly, and did not tell it to any one. -And
when Jacob returned and sought her, she said unto him: ‘[ am not clean for thee, for I have been
defiled as regards thee; for Reuben has defiled me, and has lain with me in the night, and I was
8 asleep, and did not discover until he uncovered my skirt and slept with me.’ And Jacob was
exceedingly wroth with Reuben because he had lain with Bilhah, because he had uncovered his
9 father’s skirt. And Jacob did not approach her again because Reuben had defiled her. And as for
any man who uncovers his father’s skirt his deed is wicked exceedingly, for he is abominable before
το ἴῃς Lord. For this reason it is written and ordained on the heavenly tablets that a man should not
lie with his father's wife, and should not uncover his father’s skirt, for this is unclean: they shall
surely die together, the man who lies with his father’s wife and the woman also, for they have
11 wrought uncleanness on the earth. And there shall be nothing unclean before our God in the nation
12 which He has chosen for Himself as a possession. And again, it is written a second time: ‘Cursed
be he who lieth with the wife of his father, for he hath uncovered his father’s shame’; and all the
13 holy ones of the Lord said ‘So be it; so be it. And do thou, Moses, command the children of
Israel that they observe this word; for it (entails) a punishment of death; and it is unclean, and
there is no atonement for ever to atone for the man who has committed this, but he is to be put to
death and slain, and stoned with stones, and rooted out from the midst of the people of our God.
14 For to no man who does so in Israel is it permitted to remain alive a single day on the earth, for he

25. Cf. John xiv. 26.
27. tAdditiont. Perhaps ἐπίσχεσις in Greek was misread ἐπίθεσις, as Ronsch suggests. -Latin has re/entatio, ‘a
keeping back’, Cf, Chagiga, 18a. The Hebrew is "$Y, really = ‘sacred assembly’; cf. 2 Chron. vii. 9.
The Feast: as in Sukk. 42 4, 48 a, for ‘the Feast of Tabernacles’.
29. because that = διότι = 3 = ‘ when’.
amongst the days: emended with Latin im dies. according to; 9 for 2 = ‘in’.
30. Gen. xxxv. 8,
32-4. Gen. xxxv. 16, 18-20.
- 32. Kabrataén = ΝΠ N33 = ‘some distance’. Cf. LXX, χαβραθά, i.e. N33 taken as a proper name.
- 34. Gen. xxxv. 19; Jashar ii. 1172 adds that she was forty-five at her death.

XXXIII. τ. Magdaladra’éf, ‘ tower of Eder of Ephrath’ (Gen. χχχν, 21) compressed.
.2, Cf. Test. Reub. iii, 11-14; Shabb. 554. Later Rabbis wholly denied Reuben’s guilt.
8-10. Phrases from Deut. xxii. 30; Lev. xx. 11.

2143 AM.

15 is abominable and unclean. And let them not say: to Reuben was granted life and forgiveness after
he had lain with his father’s concubine, and to her also though she had a husband, and her husband
16 Jacob, his father, was still alive. For until that time there had not been revealed the ordinance and
judgment and law in its completeness for all, but in thy days (it has been revealed) as a law of
17 seasons and of days, and an everlasting law for the everlasting generations. And for this law there

18 of the nation: on the day whereon they committed it they shall slay them. And do thou, Moses,
write (it) down for Israel that they may observe it, and do according to these words, and not commit
a sin unto death; for the Lord our God is judge, who respects not persons and accepts not gifts.

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 88, 15—34, ὃ

is no consummation of days, and no atonement for it, but they must both be rooted out in the midst

19 And tell them these words of the covenant, that they may hear and observe, and be on their guard

with respect to them, and not be destroyed and rooted out of the land; for an uncleanness, and an
abomination, and a contamination, and a pollution are all they who commit it on the earth before

20 our God. And there is no greater sin than the fornication which they commit on earth; for Israel

is a holy nation unto the Lord its God, and a nation of inheritance, and a priestly and royal nation
and for (His own) possession ; and there shall no such uncleanness appear in the midst of the holy

21 nation. And in the third year of this sixth week Jacob and all his sons went and dwelt in the house 2145
’ 22 of Abraham, near Isaac his father and Rebecca his mother. And these were the names of the sons

of Jacob: the first-born Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulon, the sons of Leah; and the
sons of Rachel, Joseph and Benjamin; and the sons of Bilhah, Dan and Naphtali; and the sons of

Zilpah, Gad and Asher; and Dinah, the daughter of Leah, the only daughter of Jacob. And they

23 came and bowed themselves to Isaac and Rebecca, and when they saw them they blessed Jacob and

34 1

2 sheep, and his servants with them to the pastures of Shechem. And the seven kings of the Amorites
3 to take their cattle as a prey. And Jacob and Levi and Judah and Joseph were in the house with

4 the youngest, and for this reason remained with his father. And there came the king[s] of Tapha,

5 mountains (and) who dwell in the woods in the land of Canaan. And they announced this to Jacob

6 And he arose from his house, he and his three sons and all the servants of his father, and his own

8 sakirt and GAa[ga]’as, and he recovered his herds. And he prevailed over them, and imposed

all his sons, and Isaac rejoiced exceedingly, for he saw the sons of Jacob, his younger son, and he
blessed them.

Warfare of the Amorite kings against Facob and his sons, 1-9. Facob sends Foseph to visit his
brethren, 10. Foseph.sold and carried down into Egypt, 11-12 (cf. Gen. xxxvii. 14, 17, 18, 25,
32-6). Deaths of Bilhah and Dinah, 15. Facob mourns for Foseph, 13,14, 17. Institution
of Day of Atonement on day when news of Foseph’s death arrived, 18-19. Wives of Facob’s
sons, 20-1.

And in the sixth year of this week of this forty-fourth jubilee Jacob sent his sons to pasture their 2148
assembled themselves together against them, to slay them, hiding themselves under the trees, and
Isaac their father; for his spirit was sorrowful, and they could not leave him: and Benjamin was

and the king[s] of +’Arésat, and the king[s] of Séragan, and the king[s] of 5616, and the king[s] of
Ga’as, and the king of Béthérén, and the king of +Ma’anisakir}, and all those who dwell in these

saying: ‘Behold, the kings of the Amorites have surrounded thy sons, and plundered their herds.’

servants, and he went against them with six thousand men, who carried swords. And he
slew them in the pastures of Shechem, and pursued those who fled, and he slew them with
the edge of the sword, and he slew j}’Arésat and Tapha and Sarégan and Sélé and }’Amani-

tribute on them that they should pay him tribute, five fruit products of their land, and he built R6ébél

16. Theory of Romans iv. 15, that where there is no law there is no transgression.
and = wa emended from δα.
22. Cf. Gen. xxx. 23-7.

XXXIV. 2-8. Short outline of ancient legend of Jacob’s wars, suggested, perhaps, by Maccabean victories. The
germ is seen in Gen. «lviii. 22, developed in Targ. Jerusalem, Gen. rabb. 97, Baba Bathra 123a. These changed
“sword and bow’ into ‘merits and good deeds’, Cf. Test. Jud. iii-vii, Midr. Wajjissau in ‘ Chronicles of Jerahmeel’
(Gaster) 80-7, Jashar 1173-84. Proper names, whether of kings or of places, differ in all accounts; but there are
almost invariably links of connexion, though place and personal names are hopelessly confused.

4. Tapha = Tephon (1 Macc. ix. 50), Tappuah (Joshua xv. 53). ’Arésa = Aser (Tobit i. 2) = Hazor (cf. 1 Macc. xi.
67), S€l6 = Shiloh. Gaé’as = Gaash (Joshua xxiv. 30). Béthor6n = Beth-Horon (1 Macc. iii. 13-24, vii. 39-47).
Ma’anisakir = not ‘Shakir of Mahanaim’ (so Midrash Wajjissau and Jashar probably read) but Mahanisakir, i. e. the
Camps of Shakir—See Test. Jud. vi. 3 (note).

7. Shechem: Cf. Test. Jud. iv. 1.

8-9. Test. Jud. vii. has different version of the sequel. R6Obél = Arbela in Jashar 1184 (cf. 1 Macc. ix. 2) Rabael
in Test. Jud. vii. 9.

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 84. 9—35. 7

gand Tamnatarés. And he returned in peace, and made peace with them, and they became his
τὸ servants, until the day that heand his sons went down into Egypt. And in the seventh year of this 2149 a.m.
week he sent Joseph to learn about the welfare of his brothers from his house to the land of Shechem,
11 and he found them in the land of Dothan. And they dealt treacherously with him, and formed
a plot against him to slay him, but changing their minds, they sold him to Ishmaelite merchants,
and they brought him down into Egypt, and they sold him to Potiphar, the eunuch of Pharaoh, the
12 {chief of the cookst, priest of the city of "Eléw. And the sons of Jacob slaughtered a kid, and dipped
the coat of Joseph in the blood, and sent (it) to Jacob their father on the tenth of the seventh month.
13 And he mourned all that night, for they had brought it to him in the evening, and he became
feverish with mourning for his death, and he said: ‘An evil beast hath devoured Joseph’ ; and all
the members of his house [mourned with him that day, and they] were grieving and mourning with
14 him all that day. And his sons and his daughter rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be
15 comforted for his son. And on that day Bilhah heard that Joseph had perished, and she died
mourning him, and she was living in +Qafratéf,} and Dinah also, his daughter, died after Joseph had
16 perished. And there came these three mournings upon Israel in one month. And they buried
17 Bilhah over against the tomb of Rachel, and Dinah also, his Caughter, they buried there. And he
mourned for Joseph one year, and did not cease, for he said ‘ Let me go down to the grave mourning
_ 18for my son’. For this reason it is ordained for the children of Israel that they should afflict
Ἵ themselves on the tenth of the seventh month—on the day that the news which made him weep for
a Joseph came to Jacob his father—that they should make atonement for themselves thereon with
: a young goat on the tenth of the seventh month, once a year, for their sins; for they had grieved the
19 affection of their father regarding Joseph his son. And this day has been ordained that they should
j grieve thereon for their sins, and for all their transgressions and for all their errors, so that they
_ 20 might cleanse themselves on that day once a year. And after Joseph perished, the sons of Jacob
Ι took unto themselves wives. The name of Reuben’s wife is ᾿Αἀᾶ ; and the name οἵ Simeon’s wife
is “Adiba’a, a Canaanite ; and the name of Levi's wife is Mélk4, of the daughters of Aram, of the seed
of the sons of Terah ; and the name of Judah's wife, Bétasd’él, a Canaanite ; and the name of Issachar's
wife, Hézaqa; and the name of Zabulon’s wife, }N?iman} ; and the name of Dan’s wife, ’Egla ; and
2 the name of Naphtali’s wife, Rast’, of Mesopotamia; and the name of Gad’s wife, Maka; and the
name of Asher’s wife, Tjona; and the name of Joseph’s wife, Asenath, the Egyptian ; and the name
21 of Benjamin’s wife, ’Ijasaka. And Simeon repented, and took a second wife from Mesopotamia as his
brothers.

Rebecca's admonition to Facob and his reply, 1-8. Rebecca asks Isaac to make Esau swear that he
will not injure Facob,g-12. Isaac consents, 13-17. Esau takes the oath and likewise Facob,
18-26. Death of Rebecca, 27.

1: And in the first year of the first week of the forty-fifth jubilee Rebecca called Jacob, her son, and 2157 a.m.
commanded him regarding his father and regarding his brother, that he should honour them all the
2 days of his life. And Jacob said: ‘I will do everything as thou hast commanded me; for this thing
; will be honour and greatness to me, and righteousness before the Lord, that I should honour them.
3 And thou too, mother, knowest from the time I was born until this day, all my deeds and all that is in
_ 4my heart, that I always think good concerning all. And how should I not do this thing which thou
_ g hast commanded me, that I should honour my father and my brother! Tell me, mother, what
6 perversity hast thou seen in me and I shall turn away from it, and mercy will be upon me.’ And
she said unto him: ‘ My son, I have not seen in thee all my days any perverse but (only) upright
deeds. And yet I will tell thee the truth, my son: I shall die this year, and I shall not survive
‘ this year in my life; for I have seen in a dream the day of my death, that I should not live beyond
a hundred and fifty-five years: and behold I have completed all the days of my life which I am to
7 live.’ And Jacob laughed at the words of his mother, because his mother had said unto him that

8, Tamnatarés = ‘ Timnah’ (cf. 1 Macc. ix. 50).
ἢ Io. Cf. Gen. xxxvii. 12, 13, 17-20, 28-36.

11. tchief of the cookst: so LXX of Gen. xxxvii. 36, wrongly, for DNIVA~AW = ‘ the captain of the bodyguard ’.

12-14. Cf. Gen. xxxvii. 31-5.

15. Ps.-Philo Anz. 6261. Lib. p. 51 says Dinah married Job ; Gen. rabb. 80 says Simeon.

17. Gen. xxxvii. 35.

18. afflict themselves : = fasting in Lev. xvi. 31 ; xxiii. 27-32; Ezra viii. 21; Dan. x. 12.

20. ’Adiba’-a, a Canaanite. Cf. Shaul—‘son of a Canaanitish woman’, Gen. xlvi. 10; Exod. vi. 15. It is to our
author’s credit that he does not seek to explain this away, as was done by later Rabbis. Cf. Beer, /udilden, 51.
Bétastél cf. Bathshua in Test. Jud. viii, xiii, xvi.

Asenath: from Gen. xli. 45. Other names obscure. Ni’imAn: ? invention of an Ethiopic scribe. Syr. Frag.
gives ‘ Adni’, Jasher ‘ Marusa’, abd >. .
XXXV. 5. mercy: Latin misericordia domini.
1100 52 65 F

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 88. 7-27

she should die; and she was sitting opposite to him in possession of her strength, and she was not
infirm in her strength ; for she went in and out and saw, and her teeth were strong, and no ailment
8 had touched her all the days of her life. And Jacob said unto her: ‘ Blessed am I, mother, if my
days approach the days of thy life, and my strength remain with me thus as thy strength: and thou
9 wilt not die, for thou art jesting idly with me regarding thy death.’ And she went in to Isaac and
said unto him: ‘One petition I make unto thee: make Esau swear that he will not injure Jacob, nor
pursue him with enmity; for thou knowest Esau’s thoughts that they are perverse from his youth,
το and there is no goodness in him; for he desires after thy death to kill him. And thou knowest all
that he has done since the day Jacob his brother went to Haran until this day ; how he has forsaken
us with his whole heart, and has done evil to us; thy flocks he has taken to himself, and carried off
11 all thy possessions from before thy face. And when we implored and besought him for what was
12 our own, he did as a man who was taking pity on us. And he is bitter against thee because thou
didst bless Jacob thy perfect and upright son; for there is no evil but only goodness in him, and
since he came from Haran unto this day he has not robbed us of aught, for he brings us everything
in its season always, and rejoices with all his heart when we take at his hands, and he blesses us, and
has not parted from us since he came from Haran until this day, and he remains with us continually
13 at home honouring us.’ And Isaac said unto her: ‘I, too, know and see the deeds of Jacob who is
with us, how that with all his heart he honours us; but I loved Esau formerly more than Jacob,
because he was the firstborn; but now I love Jacob more than Esau, for he has done manifold evil
deeds, and there is no righteousness in him, for all his ways are unrighteousness and violence, [and
14 there is no righteousness around him.] And now my heart is troubled because of all his deeds,
and neither he nor his seed is to be saved, for they are those who will be destroyed from the earth,
and who will be rooted out from under heaven, for he has forsaken the God of Abraham and gone
15 after his wives and after their uncleanness and after their error, he and his children. And thou dost
bid me make him swear that he will not slay Jacob, his brother; even if he swear he will not abide
16 by his oath, and he will not do good but evil only. But if he desires to slay Jacob, his brother, into
Jacob’s hands will he be given, and he will not escape from his hands, [for he will descend into his
17 hands.| And fear thou not on account of Jacob; for the guardian of Jacob is great and powerful
18 and honoured, and praised more than the guardian of Esau.’ And Rebecca sent and called Esau,
and he came to her, and she said unto him: ‘I have a petition, my son, to make unto thee, and do
19 thou promise to do it, my son.’ And he said: ‘I will do everything that thou sayest unto me, and
20 I will not refuse thy petition.’ And she said unto him: ‘I ask you that the day I die, thou wilt take
me in and bury me near Sarah, thy father’s mother, and that thou and Jacob will love each other,
and that neither will desire evil against the other, but mutual love only, and (so) ye will prosper, my
sons, and be honoured in the midst of the land, and no enemy will rejoice over you, and ye will be
21 a blessing and a mercy in the eyes of all those that love you.’ And he said: ‘I will do all that
thou hast told me, and I shall bury thee on the day thou diest near Sarah, my father’s mother, as
22 thou hast desired that her bones may be near thy bones. And Jacob, my brother, also, I shall love
above all flesh; for I have not a brother in all the earth but him only: and this is no great merit for
me if I love him; for he is my brother, and we were sown together in thy body, and together came
23 we forth from thy womb, and if I do not love my brother, whom shall I love? And I, myself, beg
thee to exhort Jacob concerning me and concerning my sons, for I know that he will assuredly be
king over me and my sons, for on the day my father blessed him he made him the higher and me
24 the lower. And I swear unto thee that I shall love him, and not desire evil against him all the
25 days of my life but good only.’ And he sware unto her regarding all this matter. And she
called Jacob before the eyes of Esau, and gave him commandment according to the words which
26 she had spoken to Esau. And he said: ‘I shall do thy pleasure; believe me that no evil will
proceed from me or from my sons against Esau, and I shall be first in naught save in love only.’
27 And they eat and drank, she and her sons that night, and she died, three jubilees and one week and
one year old, on that night, and her two sons, Esau and Jacob, buried her in the double cave near
Sarah, their father’s mother.

9. Referred to by Syricell. i. 202.

13. [and there...]. A dittography.

16. |for he ...]. A gloss from xxxvi. 9.

17. guardian of Jacob. Earliest reference to belief in guardian angels; cf. Matt. xviii. 10; Acts xii. 153
Hebrews i. 14. Edersheim, Jesus the Messiah, ii. 752.

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 36. 1-21

Tsaac gives directions to his sons as to his burial: exhorts them to love one another and makes them
imprecate destruction on him who injures his brother, 1-11. Divides his possessions, giving the
larger portion to Facob, and dies, 12-18. Leah dies: Facob’s sons come to comfort him, 21-4.

I And in the sixth year of this week Isaac called his two sons, Esau and Jacob, and they came to
him, and he said unto them: ‘My sons, I am going the way of my fathers, to the eternal house

2 where my fathers are. Wherefore bury me near Abraham my father, in the double cave in the field
of Ephron the Hittite, where Abraham purchased a sepulchre to bury in; in the sepulchre which

3 I digged for myself, there bury me. And this I command you, my sons, that ye practise righteous-
ness and uprightness on the earth, so that the Lord may bring upon you all that the Lord said that

4 he would do to Abraham and to his seed. And love one another, my sons, your brothers as a man
who loves his own soul, and let each seek in what he may benefit his brother, and act together on

5 the earth; and let them love each other as their own souls. And concerning the question of idols,
I command and admonish you to reject them and hate them, and love them not; for they are full

6 of deception for those that worship them and for those that bow down to them. Remember ye, my
sons, the Lord God of Abraham your father, and how I too worshipped Him and served Him in
righteousness and in joy, that He might multiply you and increase your seed as the stars of heaven
in multitude, and establish you on the earth as the plant of righteousness which will not be rooted

7 out unto all the generations for ever. And now I shall make you swear a great oath—for there is
no oath which is greater than it by the name glorious and honoured and great and splendid and
wonderful and mighty, which created the heavens and the earth and all things together—that ye will

8 fear Him and worship Him. And that each will love his brother with affection and righteousness,
and that neither will desire evil against his brother from henceforth for ever all the days of your life,

g so that ye may prosper in all your deeds and not be destroyed. And if either of you devises evil
against his brother, know that from henceforth everyone that devises evil against his brother shall fall
into his hand, and shall be rooted out of the land of the living, and his seed shall be destroyed from
rounder heaven. But on the day of turbulence and execration and indignation and anger, with flaming
devouring fire as He burnt Sodom, so likewise will He burn his land and his city and all that is
his, and he shall be blotted out of the book of the discipline of the children of men, and not be
recorded in the book of life, but in that which is appointed to destruction, and he shall depart into
eternal execration ; so that their condemnation may be always renewed in hate and in execration
τι and in wrath and in torment and in indignation and in plagues and in disease for ever. I say and
testify to you, my sons, according to the judgment which shall come upon the man who wishes to
12 injure his brother.’ And he divided all his possessions between the two on that day, and he gave
the larger portion to him that was the first-born, and the tower and all that was about it, and all that
13 Abraham possessed at the Well of the Oath. And he said: ‘This larger portion I will give to the
14 firstborn.’ And Esau said, ‘I have sold to Jacob and given my birthright to Jacob ; to him let it be
15 given, and I have not a single word to say regarding it, for it is his.’ And Isaac said, ‘ May a blessing
rest upon you, my sons, and upon your seed this day, for ye have given me rest, and my heart is not
16 pained concerning the birthright, lest thou shouldest work wickedness on account of it. May the
17 Most High God bless the man that worketh righteousness, him and his seed for evef.’ And he ended
commanding them and blessing them, and they eat and drank together before him, and he rejoiced
because there was one mind between them, and they went forth from him and rested that day and
18slept. And Isaac slept on his bed that day rejoicing; and he slept the eternal sleep, and died one
hundred and eighty years old. He completed twenty-five weeks and five years; and his two sons
19 Esau and Jacob buried him. And Esau went to the land of Edom, to the mountains of Seir, and
20 dwelt there. And Jacob dwelt in the mountains of Hebron, in the tower of the land of the sojournings
of his father Abraham, and he worshipped the Lord with all his heart and according to the visible
21 commands according as He had divided the days of his generations. And Leah his wife died in
the fourth year of the second week of the forty-fifth jubilee, and he buried her in the double cave

XXXVI. 1. eternal house: cf. Eccles. xii. 5.
6. how = sama emended for emze, ‘ after this’.
lo. turbulence and execration and indignation and anger : cf. 1 En. xxxix. 2.
13. give (’2h20) for ‘make great’ (᾽α' 462).
τό, Most High God : twenty-five times in this book, thirteen in Daniel, forty-eight times in Sir., twenty-one in Pss.,
nine times in N.T., three times in Tobit, not at all in Pss.-Solomon, nine times in 1 En. xci-civ, six times in Test. Levi,
twenty-three times in Apoc. Bar., frequent in 4 Ezra, twice in Ass. Mos., four times in 1 En. xxxvii-Ixx, once in Judith,
twice in Pentateuch outside Gen. xiv, and only once in the prophets. It was most used in early part of Maccabean
age, though rare in 1 En. i-xxxvi, Ixxii-xc and absent from 1 Macc.
18. Cf. Gen. xxxv. 29.
20. generations. So Lat. Eth. = /i¢datd corrupt for téwlidd.
67 F 2

2162 A.M.

2167 A.M.

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 86. 22—387. 20

22 near Rebecca his mother, to the left of the grave of Sarah, his father’s mother. And all her sons
and his sons came to mourn over Leah his wife with him, and to comfort him regarding her, for he

23 was lamenting her. For he loved her exceedingly after Rachel her sister died ; for she was perfect
and upright in all her ways and honoured Jacob, and all the days that she lived with him he did not
hear from her mouth a harsh word, for she was gentle and peaceable and upright and honourable.

24 And he remembered all her deeds which she had done during her life, and he lamented her exceed-
ingly ; for he loved her with all his heart and with all his soul.

Esau’s sons reproach him for hts subordination to Facob, and constrain him to war with the assistance
of 4,000 mercenaries against Facob, 1-15. Facob reproves Esau, 16-17. Esau’s reply, 18-25.

37:1 And on the day that Isaac the father of Jacob and Esau died, the sons of Esau heard that Isaac
2 had given the portion of the elder to his younger son Jacob and they were very angry. And they
strove with their father, saying: ‘ Why has thy father given Jacob the portion of the elder and passed
3 over thee, although thou art the elder and Jacob the younger?’ And he said unto them ‘ Because
I sold my birthright to Jacob for a small mess of lentils ; and on the day my father sent me to hunt
and catch and bring him something that he should eat and bless me, he came with guile and brought
4 my father food and drink, and my father blessed him and put me under his hand. And now our
father has caused us to swear, meand him, that we shall not mutually devise evil, either against his
brother, and that we shall continue in love and in peace each with his brother and not make our ways
5 corrupt.’ And they said unto him, ‘We shall not hearken unto thee to make peace with him; for
our strength is greater than his strength, and we are more powerful than he; we shall go against
him and slay him, and destroy him and his sons. And if thou wilt not go with us, we shall do hurt
6 to thee also. And now hearken unto us: Let us send to Aram and Philistia and Moab and
Ammon, and let us choose for ourselves chosen men who are ardent for battle, and let us go against
him and do battle with him, and let us exterminate him from the earth before he grows strong.’
7 And their father said unto them, ‘ Do not go and do not make war with him lest ye fall before him.’
8 And they said unto him, ‘ This too, is exactly thy mode of action from thy youth until this day, and
g thou art putting thy neck under his yoke. We shall not hearken to these words.’ And they sent to
Aram, and to ’Aduram to the friend of their father, and they hired along with them one thousand
το fighting men, chosen men of war. And there came to them from Moab and from the children of
Ammon, those who were hired, one thousand chosen men, and from Philistia, one thousand chosen
men of war, and from Edom and from the Horites one thousand chosen fighting men, and from the
11 Kittim mighty men of war. And they said unto their father: ‘Go forth with them and lead them,
12 else we shall slay thee.’ And he was filled with wrath and indignation on seeing that his sons were
forcing him to go before (them) to lead them against Jacob his brother. But afterward he remem-
13 bered all the evil which lay hidden in his heart against Jacob his brother; and he remembered not
the oath which he had sworn to his father and to his mother that he would devise no evil all his days
14 against Jacob his brother. And notwithstanding all this, Jacob knew not that they were coming
against him to battle, and he was mourning for Leah, his wife, until they approached very near to the
15 tower with four thousand warriors and chosen men of war. And the men of Hebron sent to him
saying, ‘ Behold thy brother has come against thee, to fight thee, with four thousand girt with the sword,
and they carry shields and weapons’ ; for they loved Jacob more than Esau. So they told him; for
16 Jacob wasa more liberal and merciful man than Esau. But Jacob would not believe until they came
17 very near to the tower. And he closed the gates of the tower ; and he stood on the battlements and
spake to his brother Esau and said, ‘ Noble is the comfort wherewith thou hast come to comfort me
for my wife who has died. Is this the oath that thou didst swear to thy father and again to thy
mother before they died? Thou hast broken the oath, and on the moment that thou didst swear to
18 thy father wast thou condemned.’ And then Esau answered and said unto him, ‘ Neither the chil-
dren of men nor the beasts of the earth have any oath of righteousness which in swearing they have
sworn (an oath valid) for ever; but every day they devise evil one against another, and how each
19 may slay his adversary and foe. And thou dost hate me and my children for ever. And there is
20 no observing the tie of brotherhood with thee. Hear these words which I declare unto thee,

XXXVII. Wars of Jacob and Esau. Cf. Test. Judah ix; Jalkut Shimeoni i. 132; Chronicles of Jerahmeel 80-7.
Latter two adapt the legend to the Herodian situation, and turn Adora into ‘ Arodin’ (= Herodion). Jashar ii, 1236-8
adapts it further.

1-12. Differs from later accounts in putting more of the blame on the sons of Esau, Cf. Chron. Jerahmeel xxxvii. 1.

5. him and his sons: so Lat. ‘him his sons’ a; ‘his sons’ &cd. ,

9-10, Enumerates peoples actually allied against Judah under the Maccabees: Ammonites (1 Macc. v. 6-8).
Philistines (cf. xxiv. 28), Syrians (1 Macc. iv. 29, 61), Edomites (1 Macc. v. 3, 65).

2162

Σ THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 37. 20

38. 15

If the boar can change its skin and make its bristles as soft as wool,

Or if it can cause horns to sprout forth on its head like the horns of a stag or of a sheep,
. Then will I observe the tie of brotherhood with thee.

+And if the breasts separated themselves from their mother, for thou hast not been a brother to me}.
21 And if the wolves make peace with the lambs so as not to devour or do them violence,

And if their hearts are towards them for good,
- Then there shall be peace in my heart towards thee.

22 And if the lion becomes the friend of the ox and makes peace with him.

And if he is bound under one yoke with him and ploughs with him,

Then will I make peace with thee.

23 And when the raven becomes white as the raza,

Then know that I have loved thee

And shall make peace with thee.

Thou shalt be rooted out,

And thy sons shall be rooted out,

And there shall be no peace for thee.’

24 And when Jacob saw that he was (so) evilly disposed towards him with his heart, and with
all his soul as to slay him, and that he had come springing like the wild boar which comes upon

25 the spear that pierces and kills it, and recoils not from it; then he spake to his own and to his

servants that they should attack him and all his companions.

War between Facob and Esau. Death of Esau and overthrow of his forces, 1-10, Edom reduced
to servitude ‘ till this day’, 11-14. Kings of Edom, 15-24. (Cf. Gen. xxxvi. 31-9.)

1 And after that Judah spake to Jacob, his father, and said unto him: ‘ Bend thy bow, father, and
send forth thy arrows and cast down the adversary and slay the enemy ; and mayst thou have the
power, for we shall not slay thy brother, for he is such as thou, and he is like thee: let us give him

2 (this) honour. Then Jacob bent his bow and sent forth the arrow and struck Esau, his brother (on

3 his right breast) and slew him. And again he sent forth an arrow and struck ’Adéran the Aramaean,

4n the left breast, and drove him backward and slew him. And then went forth the sons of Jacob,

5 they and their servants, dividing themselves into companies on the four sides of the tower. And
Judah went forth in front, and Naphtali and Gad with him and fifty servants with him on the south
side of the tower, and they slew all they found before them, and not one individual of them escaped.

6 And Levi and Dan and Asher went forth on the east side of the tower, and fifty (men) with them,

z and they slew the fighting men of Moab and Ammon. And Reuben and Issachar and Zebulon went
forth on the north side of the tower, and fifty men with them, and they slew the fighting men of the

8 Philistines. And Simeon and Benjamin and Enoch, Reuben’s son, went forth on the west side of the
tower, and fifty (men) with them, and they slew of Edom and of the Horites four hundred men, stout
warriors ; and six hundred fled, and four of the sons of Esau fled with them, and left their father

9 lying slain, as he had fallen on the hill which is in’Adtram. And the sons of Jacob pursued after
them to the mountains of Seir. And Jacob buried his brother on the hill which is in ’Addrdm, and

το he returned to his house. And the sons of Jacob pressed hard upon the sons of Esau in the moun-

11 tains of Seir, and bowed their necks so that they became servants of the sons of Jacob. And they

12 sent to their father (to inquire) whether they should make peace with them or slay them. And Jacob

sent word to his sons that they should make peace, and they made peace with them, and placed the

13 yoke of servitude upon them, so that they paid tribute to Jacob and to his sons always. And they

14 continued to pay tribute to Jacob until the day that he went down into Egypt. And the sons of

Edom have not got quit of the yoke of servitude which the twelve sons of Jacob had imposed on

15 them until this day. And these are the kings that reigned in Edom before there reigned any king

20. boar: symbol for Edom in 1 En. Ixxxix. 12, 42, 49, 69. Cf. Ps. Ixxx. 13. + + Out of place; possibly also
corrupt ; read after 19 a (‘ for ever’) these two clauses in reverse order and substitute ‘since’ for ‘and if’ and ‘ twins’
for ‘breasts’.

23. raza: ‘a large white bird that eats grasshoppers’ (Isenberg, Amharic Dictionary, p. 48, cf. Mandean
Adam-Book).

XXXVIII. 4. let us give him Lat. Eth. ‘ with us’, i.e. dahabéna for nahabé.
2-3. Others attributed Esau’s death to Chushim, son of Dan. Cf. Sotah 13; Jashar 1235; Pirke R. Eliezer 39;
Ps.-Jon. on Gen. 1. 13. Our author agrees with Test. Judah ix, but expands.
2. (on his right breast). Supplied from Latin and Jalkut.
8-9. ’Adfiram = ‘ Adora’ (Joseph. Avz. xiii. 15. 4; Bell. i. 2.6; 1 Macc. xiii. 20). Horites: cf. xxxvii. 10.
14. until this day: Edom was finally made tributary to Israel by John Hyrcanus.
15-24. Gen. xxxvl. 31-9.

͵, νὰ

"»

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 88. 16—89. 18 ᾿

16 over the children of Israel nel this day] intheland of Edom. And Balaq, the son of Beor, reigned
17 in Edom, and the name of his city was Danabé. And Balaq died, and Jobab, the son of Zara of
18 Bésér, reigned in his stead. And Jobabdied, and’Asam, of the land of Tém4n, reigned in his stead.
19 And ’Asam died, and ’Adath, the son of Barad, who slew Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his
20 stead, and the name of his city was Avith. And ’Adath died, and Salman, from ’Amaséq4, reigned
22 in his stead. And Salman died,and Saul of Ra’abéth (by the) river, reigned in hisstead. And Saul
23 died, and Ba’élindn, the son of Achbor, reigned in his stead. And Ba’élandn, the son of Achbor,

died, and ’Adath reigned in his stead, and the name of his wife was Maitabith, the daughter of
24 Matarat, the daughter of Métabédza’ab. These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom.

Foseph set over Potiphar’s house, 1-4. His purity and imprisonment, 5-13. Imprisonment of
Pharaoh's chief butler and chief baker whose dreams Foseph interprets,14-18. (Cf. Gen. xxxvii.
2; xxxix. 3-8, 12-15, 17-23; xl. 1-5, 21-3; xli. 1.)

39 1,2 And Jacob dwelt in the land of his father’s sojournings in the land of Canaan. These are

the generations of Jacob. And Joseph was seventeen years old when they took him down into
3 the land of Egypt, and Potiphar, an eunuch of Pharaoh, the chief cook bought him. And he
set Joseph over all his house, and the blessing of the Lord came upon the house of the Egyptian on
4 account of Joseph, and the Lord prospered him in all that he did. And the Egyptian committed
everything into the hands of Joseph; for he saw that the Lord was with him, and that the
5 Lord prospered him in all that he did. And Joseph’s appearance was comely [and very beautiful
was his appearance], and his master’s wife lifted up her eyes and saw Joseph, and she loved him,
6and besought him to lie with her. But he did not surrender his soul, and he remembered the
Lord and the words which Jacob, his father, used to read from amongst the words of Abraham,
that no man should commit fornication with a woman who has a husband; that for him the
punishment of death has been ordained in the heavens before the Most High God, and the sin
7 will be recorded against him in the eternal books continually before the Lord. And Joseph
8 remembered these words and refused to lie with her. And she besought him for a year, but he
g refused and would not listen. But she embraced him and held him fast in the house in order
to force him to lie with her, and closed the doors of the house and held him fast; but he left
1o his garment in her hands and broke through the door and fled without from her presence. And
the woman saw that he would not lie with her, and she calumniated him in the presence of his
lord, saying: ‘Thy Hebrew servant, whom thou lovest, sought to force me so that he might lie
with me; and it came to pass when I lifted up my voice that he fled and left his garment in
11 my hands when I held him, and he brake through the door. And the Egyptian saw the gar-
ment of Joseph and the broken door, and heard the words of his wife, and cast Joseph into
12 prison into the place where the prisoners were kept whom the king imprisoned. And he was
there in the prison; and the Lord gave Joseph favour in the sight of the chief of the prison
guards and compassion before him, for he saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord
13 made all that he did to prosper. And he committed all things into his hands, and the chief of
the prison guards knew of nothing that was with him, for Joseph did every thing, and the
14 Lord perfected it. And he remained there two years. And in those days Pharaoh, king of Egypt,
was wroth against his two eunuchs, against the chief butler, and against the chief baker, and he put
15 them in ward in the house of the chief cook, in the prison where Joseph was kept. And the chief of
16 the prison guards appointed Joseph to serve them; and he served before them. And they both
17 dreamed a dream, the chief butler and the chief baker, and they told it to Joseph. And as he inter-
preted to them so it befell them, and Pharaoh restored the chief butler to his office, and the
18 (chief) baker he slew, as Joseph had interpreted to them. But the chief butler forgot Joseph in the
prison, although he had informed him what would befall him, and did not remember to inform
Pharaoh how Joseph had told him, for he forgot.

XXXIX. 2. seventeen years old: cf. Gen. xxxvii. 2.
chief cook. See xxxiv. 11, xxxix. 14.
2-5. Cf. Gen. xxxix. 3-7.
4 into the hands: emended with Latin in ver. 13. Cf. Gen, xxxix. 6. Eth. = ‘before him’.
6. Cf. xx. 4, xxv. 7; Test. Jos. iii. 3; Soteh 364,
9-13. Cf. Gen. xxxix. 12-15, 17-23.
13. into his hands. See ver. 4; Eth. ‘ before him’.
14-18. Cf. Gen. xl. 1-5, 21-3.
14. two years: Gen. xli. 1.

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 40. 1—41..5

Pharaoh's dreams and their interpretation, 1-4. Elevation and marriage of Foseph, 5-13.
(Cf. Gen. xli. 1-5, 7-9, 14 seqq., 25, 29-30, 34, 36, 38-43, 45-6, 49.)

1 And in those days Pharaoh dreamed two dreams in one night concerning a famine which was to
be in all the land, and he awoke from his sleep and called all the interpreters of dreams that were
in Egypt, and magicians, and told them his two dreams, and they were not able to declare (them).
2 And then the chief butler remembered Joseph and spake of him to the king, and he brought him
3 forth from the prison, and he told his two dreams before him. And he said before Pharaoh that his
two dreams were one, and he said unto him: ‘ Seven years shall come (in which there shall be) plenty
over all the land of Egypt, and after that seven years of famine, such a famine as has not been in all
4the land. And now let Pharaoh appoint overseers in all the land of Egypt, and let them store up
food in every city throughout the days of the years of plenty, and there will be food for the seven
5 years of famine, and the land will not perish through the famine, for it will be very severe.’ And the
Lord gave Joseph favour and mercy in the eyes of Pharaoh, and Pharaoh said unto his servants :
‘We shall not find such a wise and discreet man as this man, for the spirit of the Lord is with
6him.’ And he appointed him the second in all his kingdom and gave him authority over all
7 Egypt, and caused him to ride in the second chariot of Pharaoh. And heclothed him with byssus
garments, and he put a gold chain upon his neck, and (a herald) proclaimed before him ‘’E1 ἘΠ wa
*Abirér, and placed a ring on his hand and made him ruler over all his house, and magnified him, and
8 said unto him: ‘ Only on the throne shall I be greater than thou.’ And Joseph ruled over all the
land of Egypt, and all the princes of Pharaoh, and all his servants, and all who did the king’s business
loved him, for he walked in uprightness, for he was without pride and arrogance, and he had no
respect of persons, and did not accept gifts, but he judged in uprightness all the people of the land.
9 And the land of Egypt was at peace before Pharaoh because of Joseph, for the Lord was with him,
and gave him favour and mercy for all his generations before all those who knew him and those who
heard concerning him, and Pharaoh’s kingdom was well ordered, and there was no Satan and no evil
το person (therein). And the king called Joseph’s name Sephantiphans, and gave Joseph to wife the
11 daughter of Potiphar, the daughter of the priest of Heliopolis, the chief cook. And on the day that
12 Joseph stood before Pharaoh he was thirty years old [when he stood before Pharaoh]. And in that
year Isaac died. And it came to pass as Joseph had said in the interpretation of his two dreams,
according as he had said it, there were seven years of plenty over all the land of Egypt, and the
13 land of Egypt abundantly produced, one measure (producing) eighteen hundred measures. And
Joseph gathered food into every city until they were full of corn until they could no longer count
and measure it for its multitude.

Fudah’s sons and Tamar, 1-7. Fudah’s incest with Tamar 8-18. Tamar bears twins, 21-2.
Fudah forgiven, because he sinned ignorantly and repented when convicted, and because Tamar's
marriage with his sons had not been consummated, 23-8. (Cf. Gen. xxxviii. 6-18, 20-6,
29-30 ; xli. 13.)

1 And in the forty-fifth jubilee, in the second week, (and) in the second year, Judah took for his
2 first-born Er, a wife from the daughters of Aram, named Tamar. But he hated, and did not lie with
her, because his mother was of the daughters of Canaan, and he wished to take him a wife of the
3 kinsfolk of his mother, but Judah, his father, would not permit him. And this Er, the first-born of Judah,
4 was wicked, and the Lord slew him. And Judah said unto Onan, his brother : ‘Go in unto thy brother’s
wife and perform the duty of a husband’s brother unto her, and raise up seed unto thy brother.’ And
5 Onan knew that the seed would not be his, (but) his brother's only, and he went into the house of his
brother’s wife, and spilt the seed on the ground, and he was wicked in the eyes of the Lord, and He slew

XL. Cf. Gen. xli.
Rh bb oop Latin sfeculatores; cd read ‘threshing floors’. Possibly corrupt in Gk. σιταρχίας for σιτάρχας
7. (herald): plural Araeconaverunt, only in Latin.
"£1 "£1 wa’ Abirér : ‘God, God, the Mighty One of God’, the title of a great magician. Cf. Acts viii. 10 (Simon
Magus); Fabric. Cod. Pseudepig. Vet. Test. i. 774-84; ii. 85 (Joseph) ; cf. Deissmann, Bible Studies, 336 note.
g. no Satan. Cf. xxiii. 29.
10. Séphantiphans = Zaphnath-paaneah, Gen. xli. 45 = ‘ Revealer of secrets’ acc. to later Judaism.
priest of Heliopolis. Origen, Cat. Wiceph. i. 463, refers to this function of Potiphar. Later Rabbis, e.g. Pirke
R. Eliezer 36, &c., tried to explain this marriage with a heathen priest’s daughter. Ps.-Jon. on Gen. xli. 45 makes
her Dinah’s daughter.

XLI. Cf. Gen. xxxviii. 6-7, 9-18, 20-6; Test. Judah x, xii, xiv; also xix (Judah saved by prayers).
4. Cf. Deut. xxv. 5.
71

2165 A.M.

42;

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 41. 6—42. 2

6 him. And Judah said unto Tamar, his daughter-in-law : ‘Remain in thy father's house as a widow till
7 Shelah my son be grown up, and I shall give thee to him to wife.’ And he grew up ; but Béds@’él, the
wife of Judah, did not permit her son Shelah to marry. And Bédsi’él, the wife of Judah, died 21

8 in the fifth year of this week. And in the sixth year Judah went up to shear his sheep at Timnah. 2169,

9 And they told Tamar : ‘ Behold thy father-in-law goeth up to Timnah to shear his sheep.” And she
put off her widow's clothes, and put on a veil, and adorned herself, and sat in the gate adjoining the
το way to Timnah. And as Judah was going along he found her, and thought her to be an harlot,
and he said unto her: ‘Let me come in unto thee’ ; and she said unto him: ‘Come in, and he went

11 in. And she said unto him: ‘Give me my hire’; and he said unto her: “1 have nothing in my
12 hand save my ring that is on my finger, and my necklace, and my staff which is in my hand.’ And
she said unto him: ‘ Give them to me until thou dost send me my hire’; and he said unto her:
‘| will send unto thee a kid of the goats’ ; and he gave them to her, {and he went in unto her), and
14 she conceived by him. And Judah went unto his sheep, and she went to her father’s house. And
Judah sent a kid of the goats by the hand of his shepherd, an Adullamite, and he found her not ;
and he asked the people of the place, saying: ‘ Where is the harlot who was here?’ And they said

15 unto him; ‘ There is no harlot here with us. And he returned and informed him, and said unto
him that he had not found her; ‘I asked the people of the place, and they said unto me: “ There
16 is no harlot here.”’ And he said: ‘ Let her keep (them) lest we become a cause of derision. And
when she had completed three months, it was manifest that she was with child, and they told Judah,

17 saying: ‘ Behold Tamar, thy daughter-in-law, is with child by whoredom.’ And Judah went to the
house of her father, and said unto her father and her brothers: ‘ Bring her forth, and let them burn
18 her, for she hath wrought uncleanness in Israel.’ And it came to pass when they brought her forth
to burn her that she sent to her father-in-law the ring and the necklace, and the staff, saying:
19 ‘ Discern whose are these, for by him am I with child.’. And Judah acknowledged, and said : ‘ Tamar
20 is more righteous than 1 am. And therefore let them burn her not.’ And for that reason she was

21 not given to Shelah, and he did not again approach her. And after that she bare two sons, Perez 2170

22 and Zerah, in the seventh year of this second week. And thereupon the seven years of fruitfulness
23 were accomplished, of which Joseph spake to Pharaoh. And Judah acknowledged that the deed
which he had done was evil, for he had lain with his daughter-in-law, and he esteemed it hateful in
his eyes, and he acknowledged that he had transgressed and gone astray, for he had uncovered the
skirt of his son, and he began to lament and to supplicate before the Lord because of his transgression.
24 And we told him in a dream that it was forgiven him because he supplicated earnestly, and lamented,
25 and did not again commit it. And he received forgiveness because he turned from his sin and from
his ignorance, for he transgressed greatly before our God; and every one that acts thus, every one
who lies with his mother-in-law, let them burn him with fire that he may burn therein, for there is
26 uncleanness and pollution upon them; with fire let them burn them. And do thou command the
children of Israel that there be no uncleanness amongst them, for every one who lies with his
daughter-in-law or with his mother-in-law hath wrought uncleanness ; with fire let them burn the
man who has lain with her, and likewise the woman, and He will turn away wrath and punishment
27 from Israel. And unto Judah we said that his two sons had not lain with her, and for this reason
28 his seed was established for a second generation, and would not be rooted out. For in singleness of
eye he had gone and sought for punishment, namely, according to the judgment of Abraham,
which he had commanded his sons, Judah had sought to burn her with fire.

Owing to the famine Facob sends his sons to Egypt for corn, 1-4. Foseph recognizes them and retains
Simeon, and requires them to bring Benjamin when they returned, 5-12. Notwithstanding
Facob's reluctance his sons take Benjamin with them on their second journey and are entertained
by Foseph, 13-25. (Cf. Gen. xli. 54, 56; xlii. 7-9, 13, 17, 20, 24-5, 29-30, 34-8; xliii, 1-2, 4-5,
8-9, 11, 15, 23, 26, 29, 34; xliv. 1-2.) .

2 land, and the rain -fefused to be given to the earth, for none whatever fell. And the earth grew

12. ( ) Restored from Lat.

15. keep Lat. Eth. ‘arise’, one letter different.

17. Cf. xxx. 7 note.

22. Cf. Gen. ΧΙ; 55.

25. because he turned . . . ignorance: best to transpose these two clauses and read‘ because of his ignorance
and because . .. sin’.

25, 26. Enforce laws of Lev. xx. 143 xviii. 15 ; xx. 12.

28. Judah commended for his severity.

singleness of eye: favourite expression in Test. XII Patriarchs.

XLII. Cf. Gen. xli. 54-xliv. 2.
72

And in the first year of the third week of the forty-fifth jubilee the famine began to come into the 217

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 42. 2--48. 2

barren, but in the land of Egypt there was food, for Joseph had gathered the seed of the land in the
3 seven years of plenty and had preserved it. And the Egyptians came to Joseph that he might give
them food, and he opened the store-houses where was the grain of the first year, and he sold it to
4 the people of the land for gold. (Now the famine was very sore in the land of Canaan), and Jacob
heard that there was food in Egypt, and he sent his ten sons that they should procure food for him
in Egypt; but Benjamin he did not send, and (the ten sons of Jacob) arrived (in Egypt) among those
5 that went (there). And Joseph recognised them, but they did not recognise him, and he spake unto
them and questioned them, and he said unto them; ‘Are ye not spies, and have ye not come to
6 explore the approaches of the land?’ And he put them in ward. And after that he set them free
7 again, and detained Simeon alone and sent off his nine brothers. And he filled their sacks with corn,
8 and he put their gold in their sacks, and they did not know. And he commanded them to bring
9 their younger brother, for they had told him their father was living and their younger brother. And
they went up from the land of Egypt and they came to the land of Canaan; and they told their
father all that had befallen them, and how the lord of the country had spoken roughly to them, and
10 had seized Simeon till they should bring Benjamin. And Jacob said: ‘ Me have ye bereaved of my
children! Joseph is not and Simeon also is not, and ye will take Benjamin away. On me has your
II wickedness come.’ And he said: ‘My son will not go down with you lest perchance he fall sick ;
for their mother gave birth to two sons, and one has perished, and this one also ye will take from me.
If perchance he took a fever on the road, ye would bring down my old age with sorrow unto death.’
12 For he saw that their money had been returned to every man in his sack, and for this reason he
13 feared to send him. And the famine increased and became sore in the land of Canaan, and in all
lands save in the land of Egypt, for many of the children of the Egyptians had stored up their seed
for food from the time when they saw Joseph gathering seed together and putting it in storehouses
14 and preserving it for the years of famine. And the people of Egypt fed themselves thereon during
15 the first year of their famine. But when Israel saw that the famine was very sore in the land, and
that there was no deliverance, he said unto his sons: ‘Go again, and procure food for us that we die
16 not.’ And they said: ‘We shall not go; unless our youngest brother go with us, we shall not go.’
17 And Israel saw that if he did not send him with them, they should all perish by reason of the famine.
18 And Reuben said: ‘Give him into my hand, and if I do not bring him back to thee, slay my two
10 sons instead of his soul.’ And he said unto him: ‘ He shall not go with thee.’ And Judah came near
and said: ‘Send him with me, and if I do not bring him back to thee, let me bear the blame before
20 thee all the days of my life. And he sent him with them in the second year of this week on the
first day of the month, and they came to the land of Egypt with all those who went, and (they had)
21 presents in their hands, stacte and almonds and terebinth nuts and pure honey. And they went and
stood before Joseph, and he saw Benjamin his brother, and he knew him, and said unto them: ‘Is
this your youngest brother?’ And they said unto him: ‘It is he.’ And he said: ‘The Lord be
22 gracious to thee, myson!’ And he sent him into his house and he brought forth Simeon unto them
and he made a feast for them, and they presented to him the gift which they had brought in their
23 hands. And they eat before him and he gave them all a portion, but the portion of Benjamin was
24 seven times larger than that of any of theirs. And they eat and drank and arose and remained with
25 their asses. And Joseph devised a plan whereby he might learn their thoughts as to whether thoughts
of peace prevailed amongst them, and he said to the steward who was over his house: ‘ Fill all their
sacks with food, and return their money unto them into their vessels, and my cup, the silver cup out
of which I drink, put it in the sack of the youngest, and send them away.’

Foseph’s plan to stay his brethren, 1-10. Fudah’s supplication, 11-13. Foseph makes himself known
to his brethren and sends them back for his father, 14-24. (Cf. Gen. xliv. 3-10, 12-18, 27-8,
30-2 ; ΧΙν. 1-2, 5-9, 12, 18, 20-1, 23, 25-8.)

43 1 And he did as Joseph had told him, and filled all their sacks for them with food and put their

᾿
"
ἡ

2 money in their sacks, and put the cup in Benjamin’s sack. And early in the morning they departed,
and it came to pass that, when they had gone from thence, Joseph said unto the steward of his
house : ‘Pursue them, run and seize them, saying, “ For good ye have requited me with evil ; you
have stolen from me the silver cup out of which my lord drinks.” And bring back to me their

4. { ) supplied from Latin, with Gen. xlii. 5.

5. questioned them: Latin has ‘ appellavit eos dure’.

6. Latin varies: ‘et mittens arcessivit illos et accipiens Symeonem ab ipsis ligavit eum’.
12. to every man: emended by prefixing /a to ἀηδῆ.

XLIII. Cf. Gen. xliv. 3-xlv. 28.
2, seize = fa’ahazémi emended with Gen. xliv. 4 from λα σα" από) = ‘ upbraid’.

2172 AM.

THE BOOK ΟΕ JUBILEES 48. 3—44. 3

3 youngest brother, and fetch (him) quickly before I go forth to my seat of judgment. And he ran
4 after them and said unto them according to these words. And they said unto him: ‘God forbid
that thy servants should do this thing, and steal from the house of thy lord any utensil, and the money
also which we found in our sacks the first time, we thy servants brought back from the land of
5 Canaan. How then should we steal any utensil? Behold here are we and our sacks; search, and
wherever thou findest the cup in the sack of any man amongst us, let him be slain, and we and our
6 asses will serve thy lord.’ And he said unto them: ‘ Not so, the man with whom I find, him only
7 shall I take as a servant, and ye shall return in peace unto your house.’ And as he was searching in
their vessels, beginning with the eldest and ending with the youngest, it was found in Benjamin’s —
8 sack. And they rent their garments, and laded their asses, and returned to the city and came to the
9 house of Joseph, and they all bowed themselves on their faces to the ground before him. And
Joseph said unto them : ‘ Ye have done evil.’ And they said: ‘What shall we say and how shall
we defend ourselves? Our lord hath discovered the transgression of his servants; behold we are the
10 servants of our lord, and our asses also. And Joseph said unto them: ‘I too fear the Lord ; as for
you, go ye to your homes and let your brother be my servant, for ye have done evil. Know ye not
11 that a man delights in his cup as I with thiscup? And yet ye have stolen it ffomme.’ And Judah f
said: ‘O my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord’s ear ; two brothers did thy |
servant’s mother bear to our father; one went away and was lost, and hath not been found, and he
alone is left of his mother, and thy servant our father loves him, and his life also is bound up with
12 the life of this (lad). And it will come to pass, when we go to thy servant our father, and the lad is
13 not with us, that he will die, and we shall bring down our father with sorrow unto death. Now
rather let me, thy servant, abide instead of the boy as a bondsman unto my lord, and let the lad go
with his brethren, for I became surety for him at the hand of thy servant our father, and if I do not
14 bring him back, thy servant will bear the blame to our father for ever.’ And Joseph saw that they
were all accordant in goodness one with another, and he could not refrain himself, and he told them
15 that he was Joseph. And he conversed with them in the Hebrew tongue and fell on their neck and
16 wept. But they knew him not and they began to weep. And he said unto them: ‘ Weep not over
me, but hasten and bring my father to me; and ye see that it is my mouth that speaketh, and the
17 eyes of my brother Benjamin see. For behold this is the second year of the famine, and there are
18 still five years without harvest or fruit of trees or ploughing. Come down quickly ye and your
households, so that ye perish not through the famine, and do not be grieved for your possessions, for
19 the Lord sent me before you to set things in order that many people might live. And tell my
father that I am still alive, and ye, behold, ye see that the Lord has made me asa father to Pharaoh,
20 and ruler over his house and over all the land of Egypt. And tell my father of all my glory, and
21 all the riches and glory that the Lord hath given me.’ And by the command of the mouth of
Pharaoh he gave them chariots and provisions for the way, and he gave them all many-coloured
22 raiment and silver. And to their father he sent raiment and silver and ten asses which carried corn,
23 and he sent them away. And they went up and told their father that Joseph was alive, and was
measuring out corn to all the nations of the earth, and that he was ruler over all the land of Egypt.
24 And their father did not believe it, for he was beside himself in his mind; but when he saw the
wagons which Joseph had sent, the life of his spirit revived, and he said: ‘It is enough for me if
Joseph lives ; I will go down and see him before I die.’

Facob celebrates the feast of firstfruits, and encouraged by a vision goes down to Egypt, 1-10.
Names of his descendants, 11-34. (Cf. Gen. xlvi. 1-28.)

44. And Israel took his journey from +Haran} from his house on the new moon of the third month,
and he went on the way of the Well of the Oath, and he offered a sacrifice to the God of his

2 father Isaac on the seventh of this month. And Jacob remembered the dream that he had seen

3 at Bethel, and he feared to go down into Egypt. And while he was thinking of sending word

to Joseph to come.to him, and that he would not go down, he remained there seven days, if

5. thy: for ‘ my’ (Gen. xliv. 9).

1o. delights in his cup: a change of jdsfa’adém into jdstagasém (‘divines’) would bring text into line with Gen.
xliv. 15; but the change may be deliberate.

11. I pray thee: MSS. ‘on me’, mistranslation of 13 in Gen. xliy. 18.

15. Hebrew tongue: so Ber. rabb. 93.

16. ye see . . . Benjamin see, emended in text. See my Eth. text, p. 157.

XLIV. 1. tHaran} for ‘ Hebron’ (cp. Gen. xxxvii. 14).
74

“ ὦ _
ay | ᾿υ ΨΥ

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 44. 4-28

4 perchance he should see a vision as to whether he should remain or go down. And he cele-
brated the harvest festival of the first-fruits with old grain, for in all the land of Canaan there
was not a handful of seed [in the land], for the famine was over all the beasts and cattle and

5 birds, and also over man. And on thesixteenth the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him,
‘Jacob, Jacob’; and he said,‘Here am I” And He said unto him: ‘I am the God of thy fathers,
the God of Abraham and Isaac; fear not to go down into Egypt, for I will there make of thee

6a great nation. I will go down with thee, and I will bring thee up (again), and in this land
shalt thou be buried, and Joseph shall put his hands upon thy eyes. Fear not ; go down into Egypt.’

7 And his sons rose up, and his sons’ sons, and they placed their father and their possessions upon

8 wagons. And Israel rose up from the Well of the Oath on the sixteenth of this third month, and he

9 went to the land of Egypt. And Israel sent Judah before him to his son Joseph to examine the
Land of Goshen, for Joseph had told his brothers that they should come and dwell there that they

10 might be near him. And this was the goodliest (land) in the land of Egypt, and near to him, for all

11 (of them) and also for the cattle. And these are the names of the sons of Jacob who went into

12 Egypt with Jacob their father. Reuben, the first-born of Israel; and these are the names of his

13 sons: Enoch, and Pallu, and Hezron and Carmi—five. Simeon and his sons; and these are the

names of his sons: Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul, the son

14 οἵ the Zephathite woman—seven. Levi and his sons; and these are the names of his sons:

15 Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari—four. Judah and his sons; and these are the names of his sons :

16 Shela, and Perez, and Zerah—four. Issachar and his sons ; and these are the names of his sons:

17 Tola, and Phila, and Jastib, and Shimron—five. Zebulon and his sons ; and these are the names of

18 his sons: Sered,and Elon, and Jahleel—four. And these are the sons of Jacob, and their sons whom

Leah bore to Jacob in Mesopotamia, six, and their one sister, Dinah: and all the souls of the sons of
Leah, and their sons, who went with Jacob their father into Egypt, were twenty-nine, and Jacob their

19 father being with them, they were thirty. And the sons of Zilpah, Leah’s handmaid, the wife of

20 Jacob, who bore unto Jacob Gad and Asher. And these are the names of their sons who went with

him into Egypt: The sons of Gad: Ziphion,and Haggi, and Shuni, and Ezbon, (and Eri), and Areli,

21 and Arodi—eight. And the sons of Asher: Imnah, and Ishvah, (and Ishvi), and Beriah, and Serah,

23 their one sister—six. All the souls were fourteen, and all those of Leah were forty-four. And the

24 sons of Rachel, the wife of Jacob: Joseph and Benjamin. And there were born to Joseph in Egypt
before his father came into Egypt, those whom Asenath, daughter of Potiphar priest of Heliopolis

25 bare unto him, Manasseh, and Ephraim—three. And the sons of Benjamin: Bela and Becher,

and Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman, and Ehi, and Rosh, and Muppim, and Huppim, and Ard—eleven.

, 27 And all the souls of Rachel were fourteen. And the sons of Bilhah, the handmaid of Rachel, the

28 wife of Jacob, whom she bare to Jacob, were Dan and Naphtali. And these are the names of their

4-8. Cf. Gen. xlvi. 1-6. Jacob’s vision is on the day after the Feast of ‘Weeks ’.

4. [in the land]: a dittography.

g. Gen. xlvi. 28. For readings see p. 6.

12-33. Our text makes the number of Jacob’s descendants together with himself seventy. This was the view of the
writer of Gen. xlvi. 27. On the other hand in Gen. xlvi. 15, 18, 22, 25 and Joseph. Avwz. ii. 7. 4 Jacob is expressly
not included in the number seventy. Cf. Exod. i. 5. That chapter has admittedly undergone revision. Our text
makes up the number seventy by a method somewhat different from that in Gen. xlvi. Thus whereas Dan and
τὴν ata have respectively one and four sons in Gen., our text assigns them five each. On the other hand Gen.
includes in its reckoning two grandchildren of Asher, Er, Onan, two sons of Perez, and Dinah, against Jubilees. The
numbers in our text may be represented as follows :—

Reuben and 4 sons. 5 ἢ Joseph and 2 sons . a3
Simeon and 6 sons 7 Rachel's children { foseph an and 10 sons 2 1
Se phi Levi and 3 sons . . ao με
Leah's children Judah, 1 son, 2 grandsons . 4 14
Issachar and 4 sons 5 :
Zebulon and 3 sons 4 Bilhah’s,, | Nepheali serie z
29 --
12
ὃ

, ; Gadand7sons. . -
Zilpah’s,, Meee 4sonsandidaughter 6

14
29+14+14+12=6g9. Thus the number 70 includes Jacob. It is noteworthy that the LXX reads 75 in Gen.
xlvi, 27: likewise in Exod. i. 5, while in Deut. x. 22 most MSS. give 70, but some give 75. The number 75 in Acts
vii. 14 is of course due to the LXX.
13. Zephathite, i.e. of Zephath, a Canaanite city (Judges. i. 17).
20, 21. { ) names required to complete numbers ‘eight’ and ‘six’,
28. Cf. Gen. xlvi. 23 which gives Hushim only.
75

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 44. 28—45. τό

sons who went with them into Egypt. And the sons of Dan were Hushim, and Samé6n, and Asddi,

29 and ‘ijaka, and Salbm6én—six. And they died the year in which they entered into Egypt, and there

30 was left to Dan Hushim alone. And these are the names of the sons of Naphtali: Jahziel, and Guni,

31 and Jezer, and Shallum, and ‘iv. And ‘iv, who was born after the years of famine, died in Egypt.

2, 33 And all the souls of Rachel were twenty-six. And all the souls of Jacob which went into Egypt

were seventy souls. These are his children and his children’s children, in all seventy ; but five died

34 in Egypt before Joseph, and had no children. And in the land of Canaan two sons of Judah died,

Er and Onan, and they had no children, and the children of Israel buried those who perished, and
they were reckoned among the seventy Gentile nations.

Foseph receives Facob, and gives him Goshen, 1-7. Foseph acquires all the land and its inhabi-
tants for Pharaoh, 8-12. Facob dies and ἐς buried in Hebron, 13-15. His books given to
Levi, 16. (Cf. Gen. xlvi: 28-30; xlvii. 11-13, 19, 20, 23, 24, 28; 1. 13.)

451 And Israel went into the country of Egypt, into the land of Goshen, on the new moon of the fourth
2 month, in the second year of the third week of the forty-fifth jubilee. And Joseph went to meet his
3 father Jacob, to the land of Goshen, and he fell on his father’s neck and wept. And Israel said unto '

Joseph : ‘ Now let me die since I have seen thee, and now may the Lord God of Israel be blessed,
the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac who hath not withheld His mercy and His grace from
4 His servant Jacob. It is enough for me that I have seen thy face whilst {1 amf yet alive ; yea, true
is the vision which I saw at Bethel. Blessed be the Lord my God for ever and ever, and blessed be
5 His name. And Joseph and his brothers eat bread before their father and drank wine, and Jacob
rejoiced with exceeding great joy because he saw Joseph eating with his brothers and drinking before |
him, and he blessed the Creator of all things who had preserved him, and had preserved for him his
6 twelve sons. And Joseph had given to his father and to his brothers as a gift the right of dwelling
in the land of Goshen and in Rameses and all the region round about, which he ruled over before
Pharaoh. And Israel and his sons dwelt in the land of Goshen, the best part of the land of Egypt ;
7 and Israel was one hundred and thirty years old when he came into Egypt. And Joseph nourished
his father and his brethren and also their possessions with bread as much as sufficed them for the
8 seven years of the famine. And the land of Egypt suffered by reason of the famine, and Joseph
acquired all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh in return for food, and he got possession of the people
g and their cattle and everything for Pharaoh. And the years of the famine were accomplished, and
Joseph gave to the people in the land seed and food that they might sow (the land) in the eighth
10 year, for the river had overflowed all the land of Egypt. For in the seven years of the famine it had
(not) overflowed and had irrigated only a few places on the banks of the river, but now it overflowed
11 and the Egyptians sowed the land, and it bore much corn that year. And this was the first year of 2178
12 the fourth week of the forty-fifth jubilee. And Joseph took of the corn of the harvest the fifth part
for the king and left four parts for them for food and for seed, and Joseph made it an ordinance for
13 the land of Egypt until this day. And Israel lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years, and all the
days which he lived were three jubilees, one hundred and forty-seven years, and he died in the fourth 2188
14 year of the fifth week of the forty-fifth jubilee. And Israel blessed his sons before he died and told
them everything that would befall them in the land of Egypt; and he made known to them what
would come upon them in the last days, and blessed them and gave to Joseph two portions in
15 the land. And he slept with his fathers, and he was buried in the double cave in the land of
Canaan, near Abraham his father in the grave which he dug for himself in the double cave in
16the land of Hebron. And he gave all his books and the books of his fathers to Levi his son
that he might preserve them and renew them for his children until this day.

33. before Joseph (4c); ‘ before they married’ (a) ; ‘who did not marry’ (d).

XLV, 1-4a. Gen. xlvi. 28-30.
4. whilst ΤΙ amt yet alive: change ava to ata = ‘ thou’ and read ‘ that’ for ‘ whilst’, then = Gen. xlvi. 30.
6. Gen. xlvii. 11. Ἶ

one hundred and thirty years: from Gen. xlvii. 9.
7. as much as sufficed: emend ya’ak/émi to 'akdlémi = ‘ according to their persons’, as LXX, Gen, xlvii. 12.
8. for Pharaoh: with Latin 4 reads ‘and Pharaoh’.
9, 10. Gen, xlvii. 23. Restore (the land) and (not) from Latin and emend ‘it bore’ to ‘they harvested’ (Latin Ι

collegerunt).

12. Cf. Gen. xlvii. 24.

the corn of. Read with Lat. ‘all the’.
13. Cf. Gen. xlvii. 28. Date conflicts with that in xix. 13. See xxv. 4.
14. told them, ἅς. Cf. Gen. xlix. 1; Jub. xxx. 21.
15. Cf. Gen. I. 13.
16. Cf. x. 14. Our author, who published these traditions, was probably himself a priest.

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 46. 1-13

Prosperity of Israel in Egypt, 1-2. Death of Foseph, 3-5. War between Egypt and Canaan during
which the bones of all the sons of Facob except Foseph are buried at Hebron, 6-11. Egypt
oppresses Israel, 12-16. (Cf. Gen. 1. 22, 25-6; Exod. i. 6-14.)

1 And it came to pass that after Jacob died the children of Israel multiplied in the land of Egypt,
and they became a great nation, and they were of one accord in heart, so that brother loved brother
and every man helped his brother, and they increased abundantly and multiplied exceedingly, ten

2 weeks of years, all the days of the life of Joseph. And there was no Satan nor any evil all the days
of the life of Joseph which he lived after his father Jacob, for all the Egyptians honoured the children

3 of Israel all the days of the life of Joseph. And Joseph died being a hundred and ten years old;
seventeen years he lived in the land of Canaan, and ten years he was a servant, and three years in

4 prison, and eighty years he was under the king, ruling all the land of Egypt. And he died and all

5 his brethren and all that generation. And he commanded the children of Israel before he died that

6 they should carry his bones with them when they went forth from the land of Egypt. And he made
them swear regarding his bones, for he knew that the Egyptians would not again bring forth and
bury him in the land of Canaan, for Makamar6én, king of Canaan, while dwelling in the land of
Assyria, fought in the valley with the king of Egypt and slew him there, and pursued after the
Egyptians to the gates of ’Ermén. But he was not able to enter, for another, a new king, had become
king of Egypt, and he was stronger than he, and he returned to the land of Canaan, and the gates of

g Egypt were closed, and none went out and none came into Egypt. And Joseph died in the forty-
sixth jubilee, in the sixth week, in the second year, and they buried him in the land of Egypt, and
all his brethren died after him. And the king of Egypt went forth to war with the king of Canaan
in the forty-seventh jubilee, in the second week in the second year, and the children of Israel brought
forth all the bones of the children of Jacob save the bones of Joseph, and they buried them in the

το field in the double cave in the mountain. And the most (of them) returned to Egypt, but a few of

11 them remained in the mountains of Hebron, and Amram thy father remained with them. And the

_ 12 king of Canaan was victorious over the king of Egypt, and he closed the gates of Egypt. And he
devised an evil device against the children of Israel of afflicting them and he said unto the people of

13 Egypt: ‘Behold the people of the children of Israel have increased and multiplied more than we.

Come and let us deal wisely with them before they become too many, and let us afflict them with

slavery before war come upon us and before they too fight against us; else they will join themselves

XLVI. 1. Cf. Exod. i. 7.

3. Cf. Gen. 1. 22, 26 (Joseph’s death at 110).

6-9. This war between the Egyptians and the Canaanites is referred to in the T. Sim. viii. 2 and T. Benj. xii. 3 as
being waged when the bodies of these patriarchs were buried at Hebron. Thus in Sim. viii. 2 ἔθηκαν αὐτὸν ἐν θήκῃ ξύλων
ἀσήπτων τοῦ ἀναγαγεῖν τὰ ὀστᾶ αὐτοῦ ἐν Χεβρών. καὶ ἀνήνεγκαν αὐτὰ ἐν πολέμῳ Αἰγυπτίων κρυφῇ : and Benj. xii. 2, 3 καὶ ἔθηκαν
αὐτὸν ἐν παραθήκῃ καὶ... ἀνήγαγον τὰ ὀστᾶ τῶν πατέρων αὐτῶν ἐν κρυφῇ, ἐν πολέμῳ Χαναάν (Arm. = ὅτε ἦσαν ἐν πολέμῳ
οἱ Χαναναῖοι), If we could trust the date in T. Gad viii. 5 which says that the body of Gad was buried in Hebron five
years after his death : ἐκοιμήθη ἐν εἰρήνῃ. καὶ μετὰ πέντε ἔτη ἀνήγαγον αὐτὸν καὶ ἔθηκαν αὐτὸν eis Χεβρών, we could arrive
at the date to which the authors of Jubilees and the Testaments assigned this war between Egypt and Canaan. Since
Gad died at the age of 125 (T. Gad I. 1; Midrash Tadshe and Book of Jashar, of. εἷΐ. ii. 1246) and was 40 when
he went down into Egypt (see note on xxviii. 11-24), his burial in Hebron took place 90 years after the descent
into Egypt in the year of the world 2262. But this date would be too early for Levi and Benjamin. The statement in
Benj. xii. 3 that this expedition to Hebron was in the gist year (Greek MSS.) before the exodus, is not supported by the
Armenian version. Our text fixes it at 2263. Notwithstanding it seems clearly to have been the view of the author
of the Testaments that the bones of all the patriarchs save those of Joseph were buried in Hebron on the occasion of
a war between Egypt and Canaan. Thus, in addition to the statements in Simeon, Gad and Benjamin, observe that after
mentioning the death of Levi, Zebulon and Dan, the Testaments (Lev. xix. § ; Zeb. x. 7; Dan vii. 2) add that ‘afterwards’
(ὕστερον) they were buried in Hebron. Josephus (Azz. ii. 8. 2) appears to have held the same view, though he makes
no mention of the war. He states: ‘ His (Joseph’s) brethren also died . . . and their posterity and sons carried their
bodies after some time (κομίσαντες μετὰ χρόνον) and buried them in Hebron.’ St. Stephen is beholden to this tradition
for the statement in Acts vii. 15-16.

Merenptah (about this date ?) waged war against Palestine. See Articles on Egypt in Ezcyc. Bib. ii and Bible
Dictionary i. 662,665. But our text, which emphasizes the weakness of Egypt, points rather to the period of the
successors of Rameses III when Egypt lost her Syrian dependencies.

In Josephus (Azz. ii. 10) there is an account of a war between Cush and Egypt in which the latter prevails under
the generalship of Moses. An enlarged form of this legend having many details in common with that in Josephus is
given in the Chronicles of Jerahmeel xlv. Here the war is between Cush and Syria and the people of the East.
Another form appears in the Palaea Historica (Vassiliev, Anecdota Graeco-Byzantina, i, 228), where Egypt is at
strife with India. A later and still more elaborate and still more grotesque edition is found in the Book of Jashar
th ii. 1244-53). The oldest form of the tradition is that in our text where the war is between Egypt and Canaan.

account in the Chronicles of Jerahmee] comes nearest to this in. representing Cush and Canaan as the opposing
countries.

6. Ermén = Heroénpolis, near the desert on the canal of Ramses.
to. No other mention of this stay of Amram in Palestine; but cf. Joseph. Av/. ii. 8. 2.
13-15. Cf. Exod. i. 10-12, 14.

2242 AM.

2242 A.M.
2263 A.M.

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 46. 13—48. 2

unto our enemies and get them up out of our land, for their hearts and faces are towards the land

of Canaan.’ And he set over them taskmasters to afflict them with slavery ; and they built strong

cities for Pharaoh, Pithom, and Raamses and they built all the walls and all the fortifications which

had fallen in the cities of Egypt. And they made them serve with rigour, and the more they dealt

τὸ evilly with them, the more they increased and multiplied. And the people of Egypt abominated the
children of Israel.

Birth of Moses, 1-4. Adopted by Pharaoh's daughter, 5-9. Slays an Egyptian and flees (into
Midian), 10-12. (Cf. Exod. i. 22; ii. 2-15.)

And in the seventh week, in the seventh year, in the forty-seventh jubilee, thy father went forth 2303
from the land of Canaan, and thou wast born in the fourth week, in the sixth year thereof, in the 2330.
, forty-eighth jubilee ; this was the time of tribulation on the children of Israel. And Pharaoh, king
~ of Egypt, issued a command regarding them that they should cast all their male children which were
born into the river. And they cast them in for seven months until the day that thou wast born.
‘And thy mother hid thee for three months, and they told regarding her. And she made an ark for
thee, and covered it with pitch and asphalt, and placed it in the flags on the bank of the river, and
she placed thee in it seven days, and thy mother came by night and suckled thee, and by day
; Miriam, thy sister, guarded thee from the birds. And in those days Tharmuth, the daughter of
> Pharaoh, came to bathe in the river, and she heard thy voice crying, and she told her maidens to
¢ bring thee forth, and they brought thee unto her. And she took thee out of the ark, and she had
compassion on thee. And thy sister said unto her: ‘Shall I go and call unto thee one of the
Hebrew women to nurse and suckle this babe for thee?’ And she said (unto her): ‘Go.’ And she
went and called thy mother Jochebed, and she gave her wages, and she nursed thee. And afterwards,

° when thou wast grown up, they brought thee unto the daughter of Pharaoh, and thou didst become

her son, and Amram thy father taught thee writing, and after thou hadst completed three weeks

ο they brought thee into the royal court. And thou wast three weeks of years at court until the time 2351

° when thou didst go forth from the royal court and didst see an Egyptian smiting thy friend who was Pr

, of the children of Israel, and thou didst slay him and hide him in the sand. And on the second day
thou didst find two of the children of Israel striving together, and thou didst say to him who was

, doing the wrong: ‘Why dost thou smite thy brother?’ And he was angry and indignant, and said :

“ ‘Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? Thinkest thou to kill me as thou killedst the

Egyptian yesterday?’ And thou didst fear and flee on account of these words.

Voses returns from Midian to Egypt. Mastémé seeks to slay him on the way,1-3. The ten plagues,
4-11. Israel goes forth out of Egypt: the destruction of the Egyptians on the Red Sea, 12-19.
(Cf. Exod. ii. 15; iv. 19, 243 vii. seqq.)

48. And in the sixth year of the third week of the forty-ninth jubilee thou didst depart and dwell (in 2372
the land of Midian) five weeks and one year. And thou didst return into Egypt in the second week
in the second year in the fiftieth jubilee. And thou thyself knowest what He spake unto thee on 2410
Mount Sinai, and what prince Mastéma desired to do with thee when thou wast returning into Egypt

13. our enemies: so Lat.; Eth. ‘the enemy’.
their hearts, &c. Rénsch compares Ezek. xxi. 2.

14. strong cities: with LXX. Heb. = ΠΌΣΟ “yp.
Raamses : Latin adds ‘et Oon’ from LXX, Exod. i. 11.

XLVII. 2-4. Cf. Exod. i. 22, ii. 2-4.

3. seven months: Cedren. i. 85, quotes it as ‘ten months’.

5. Greek form ‘ Thermuthis’ in Syr. Frag. ; Joseph. Azz. ii. 9. 5 ; Syncell. i. 227.
her maidens: plural only in Syr. of Exod. ii. 5.

7. {unto her) restored from Latin and Exod. ii. 8.

8. Jochebed: Exod. vi. 20; Num. xxvi. 59.

9-12. Exod. ii. 10-14.

9. daughter = Exod. i. 10. Eth. and Lat. = ‘ house’.
"Amram... taught thee writing : not the view of Acts vii. 22; Philo, Vit, Moszs, ii. 83.
three weeks: cf. Joseph. Azz. ii. 9. 6.

XLVIII. 1. in the land of Midian: restored from Latin with Exod. ii. 15.
one year: read ‘three years’.
return into Egypt, as Exod. iv. 19.
2. Author avoids offence by ascribing God’s deed to Mastéma. Cf. 1 Chron. xxi. 1; Jubilees xvii. 16. { ) Eth.
text corrupt ; emended from Latin.
78

eal

er on

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 48. 3—49. 1

3 (on the way when thou didst meet him at the lodging-place). Did he not with all his power seck to
slay thee and deliver the Egyptians out of thy hand when he saw that thou wast sent to execute
4 judgment and vengeance on the Egyptians? And I delivered thee out of his hand, and thou didst
perform the signs and wonders which thou wast sent to perform in Egypt against Pharaoh, and

5 against all his house, and against his servants and his people. And the Lord executed a great
vengeance on them for Israel’s sake, and smote them through (the plagues of) blood and frogs, lice
and dog-flies, and malignant boils breaking forth in blains; and their cattle by death; and by hail-
stones, thereby He destroyed everything that grew for them; and by locusts which devoured the
residue which had been left by the hail, and by darkness; and (by the death) of the first-born of

6 men and animals, and on all their idols the Lord took vengeance and burned them with fire. And
everything was sent through thy hand, that thou shouldst declare (these things) before they were
done, and thou didst speak with the king of Egypt before all his servants and before his people.

7 And everything took place according to thy words; ten great and terrible judgments came on the
8 land of Egypt that thou mightest execute vengeance on it for Israel. And the Lord did everything
for Israel’s sake, and according to His covenant, which He had ordained with Abraham that He

9 would take vengeance on them as they had brought them by force into bondage. And the prince
Mastéma stood up against thee, and sought to cast thee into the hands of Pharaoh, and he helped

10 the Egyptian sorcerers, and they stood up and wrought before thee. The evils indeed we permitted
11 them to work, but the remedies we did not allow to be wrought by their hands. And the Lord
smote them with malignant ulcers, and they were not able to stand, for we destroyed them so that

12 they could not perform a single sign. And notwithstanding all (these) signs and wonders the prince
Mastéma was not put to shame because he took courage and cried to the Egyptians to pursue after
thee with all the powers of the Egyptians, with their chariots, and with their horses, and with all the

13 hosts of the peoples of Egypt. And I stood between the Egyptians and Israel, and we delivered
Israel out of his hand, and out of the hand of his people, and the Lord brought them through the

14 midst of the sea as if it were dryland. And all the peoples whom he brought to pursue after Israel,
the Lord our God cast them into the midst of the sea, into the depths of the abyss beneath the
children of Israel, even as the people of Egypt had cast their children into the river. He took
vengeance on 1,000,000 of them, and one thousand strong and energetic men were destroyed on
15 account of one suckling of the children of thy people which they had thrown into the river. And
on the fourteenth day and on the fifteenth and on the sixteenth and on the seventeenth and on the
eighteenth the prince Mastéma was bound and imprisoned behind the children of Israel that he
16 might not accuse them. And on the nineteenth we let them loose that they might help the
17 Egyptians and pursue the children of Israel. And he hardened their hearts and made them
stubborn, and the device was devised by the Lord our God that He might smite the Egyptians and
18 cast them into the sea. And on the fourteenth we bound him that he might not accuse the children
of Israel on the day when they asked the Egyptians for vessels and garments, vessels of silver, and
vessels of gold, and vessels of bronze, in order to despoil the Egyptians in return for the bondage in

19 which they had forced them to serve. And we did not lead forth the children of Israel from Egypt
empty handed.

The Passover: regulations regarding its celebration. (Cf. Exod. xii. 6, 9, 11, 13, 22-3,
30, 460; xv. 22.)

Remember the commandment which the Lord commanded thee concerning the passover, that
thou shouldst celebrate it in its season on the fourteenth of the first month, that thou shouldst kill

3. Author explains away meaning of Exod. iv. 24, unlike Jerahmeel xlvii. 1, 2, where the angel seeks to slay Moses
for not circumcising his son.

- (ΡΥ the death): Lat. and Eth. omit.
6. declare (¢enger) emended from ‘ shouldest do’ (¢egéar).
8. Gen. xv. 13, 14.

9. prince Mastéma: a ὁ here and in verses 12 and 15, and xviii. 9, 12 read ‘prince of the Mastéma’.
11. Exod. ix. 11.

12. Exod. xiv. 8,9. because. So I read for ‘until’.
took courage: a has ‘took thought’.
13. a6 read ‘ between thee and’ before ‘between’; cd add these words after ‘ Egyptians and’.
14. Lex talionis: cf. iv. 31; Wisd. xi. 1,7, 8, xii. 23, xvi. 1, xviii. 45 ; Philo, adv. /lacc. xx ; Joseph. contra AZ. ii. 13 ;
Exod. xviii. 11 ; Gen. ix. 6.
17. Cf. xvii. 16, xviii. 2.
18. fourteenth: with ὁ and Cedren. i. 87; ad read ‘ seventeenth’.

XLIX. 1-21. Exod. xii. 6, 13, 22, 23, 28.
79

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 49. 1-15

it before it is evening, and that they should eat it by night on the evening of the fifteenth from the

2 time of the setting of the sun. For on this night—the beginning of the festival and the beginning
of the joy—ye were eating the passover in Egypt, when all the powers of Mastéma had been let
loose to slay all the first-born in the land of Egypt, from the first-born of Pharaoh to the first-born

3 of the captive maid-servant in the mill, and to the cattle. And this is the sign which the Lord gave
them: Into every house on the lintels of which they saw the blood of a lamb of the first year, into
(that) house they should not enter to slay, but should pass by (it), that all those should be saved that

4 were in the house because the sign of the blood was on its lintels. And the powers of the Lord did
everything according as the Lord commanded them, and they passed by all the children of Israel,
and the plague came not upon them to destroy from amongst them any soul either of cattle, or

5 man, or dog. And the plague was very grievous in Egypt, and there was no house in Egypt
6 where there was not one dead, and weeping and lamentation. And all Israel was eating the flesh
of the paschal lamb, and drinking the wine, and was lauding and blessing, and giving thanks to
the Lord God of their fathers, and was ready to go forth from under the yoke of Egypt, and from

7 the evil bondage. And remember thou this day all the days of thy life, and observe it from year to
year all the days of thy life, once a year, on its day, according to all the law thereof, and do not

8 adjourn (it) from day to day, or from month to month. For it is an eternal ordinance, and engraven
on the heavenly tablets regarding all the children of Israel that they should observe it every year on
its day once a year, throughout all their generations ; and there is no limit of days, for this is ordained

9 for ever. And the man who is free from uncleanness, and does not come to observe it on occasion
of its day, so as to bring an acceptable offering before the Lord, and to eat and to drink before the
Lord on the day of its festival, that man who is clean and close at hand shall be cut off: because
he offered not the oblation of the Lord in its appointed season, he shall take the guilt upon himself.
Το Let the children of Israel come and observe the passover on the day ofits fixed time, on the fourteenth
day of the first month, between the evenings, from the third part of the day to the third part of
11 the night, for two portions of the day are given to the light, and a third part to the evening. This
12 is that which the Lord commanded thee that thou shouldst observe it between the evenings. And
it is not permissible to slay it during any period of the light, but during the period bordering on the
evening, and let them eat it at the time of the evening until the third part of the night, and
whatever is left over of all its flesh from the third part of the night and onwards, let them burn
13 it with fire. And they shall not cook it with water, nor shall they eat it raw, but roast on the
fire: they shall eat it with diligence, its head with the inwards thereof and its feet they shall roast
with fire, and not break any bone thereof; for tof the children of Israel no bone shall be crushedf.

'4 For this reason the Lord commanded the children of Israel to observe the passover on the day of its
fixed time, and they shall not break a bone thereof; for it is a festival day, and a day commanded,
and there may be no passing over from day to day, and month to month, but on the day of its
'5 festival let it be observed. And do thou command the children of Israel to observe the passover

2. See notes on xviii. 17, x. 8, ἅς.

5. Cf. Exod. xii. 30.

6. drinking the wine: first mention of this practice at the Passover.

7-8. Cf. vi. 20, 22.

8. regarding all = /ahuéllémi emended with Lat. from /a‘é/a.

9. Cf. Numb. ix. 13. Explained in Pesach. ix. 4.

10. Exod. xii. 6.

12. slay it . . . during the period (or ‘time’) bordering on the evening. According to our text the Passover
victim might be slain ‘ during the period bordering on the evening’. This is the meaning it attaches to the phrase
‘ between the evenings’ (O°2Y 3). It corresponds well with Deut. xvi. 6, which gives directions for the sacrificing
of the passover ‘at even, at the going down of the sun’. But in ver. 10 of our text, a wider definition is given— from
the third part of the day to the third part of the night.—The Pharisees and the Sadducees differed in the interpretation
of the phrase ‘ between the evenings’. The former said it meant from the time when the sun inclined towards his’
setting till his final disappearance, i.e. from 3 to 6 p.m., but according to the latter it was the time between actual
sunset and darkness, i.e. 6 and 7 p.m. (Pesachim v. 1). The hours (the 9th to the — assigned by Josephus (Be//.
Jud. vi. 9. 3) agree with*the Pharisaic determination (θύουσιν μὲν ἀπὸ ἐνάτης ὥρας μέχρις ἑνδεκάτης). If then we combine
the statements in verses 10 and 12 of our text we may infer that the slaughtering of the victim might take place any
time during ‘the third part of the day’ before sunset ; and this harmonizes on the whole with the rabbinic tradition.
The Samaritans and Karaite Jews support the usage of the Sadducees in limiting the act of sacrificing to the hour
between sunset and complete darkness.

eat it at the time of the evening until the third part of the night. Night was divided into three parts: 6 to
10 p.m., 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., and 2 to6a.m. Hence the time for eating seems to be from 6 to lop.m. The rabbinic
rule fixed midnight as the hour when the eating must be concluded (Berachoth i. 1; Pesach. x. 9).
13. they shall eat it: emended with Lat.
tof the children ... +t. The Latin seems better: ‘non erit tribulatio in filiis Istrahel in die hac.’
15. No evil will come in the year of a Passover rightly performed.

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 49. 15—50. 8

throughout their days, every year, once a year on the day of its fixed time, and it shall come for
a memorial well pleasing before the Lord, and no plague shall come upon them to slay or to smite
in that year in which they celebrate the passover in its season in every respect according to His
16 command. And they shall not eat it outside the sanctuary of the Lord, but before the sanctuary of
the Lord, and all the people of the congregation of Israel shall celebrate it in its appointed season.
17 And every man who has come upon its day shall eat it in the sanctuary of your God before the Lord
from twenty years old and upward; for thus is it written and ordained that they should eat it
18 in the sanctuary of the Lord. And when the children of Israel come into the land which they
are to possess, into the land of Canaan, and set up the tabernacle of the Lord in the midst of
the land in one of their tribes until the sanctuary of the Lord has been built in the land, let them
come and celebrate the passover in the midst of the tabernacle of the Lord, and let them slay it
19 before the Lord from year to year. And in the days when the house has been built in the name of
the Lord in the land of their inheritance, they shall go there and slay the passover in the evening, at
20 Sunset, at the third part of the day. And they shall offer its blood on the threshold of the altar,
and shall place its fat on the fire which is upon the altar, and they shall eat its flesh roasted
21 With fire in the court of the house which has been sanctified in the name of the Lord. And
they may not celebrate the passover in their cities, nor in any place save before the tabernacle of the
Lord, or before His house where His name hath dwelt; and they shall not go astray from the Lord.
22 And do thou, Moses, command the children of Israel to observe the ordinances of the passover, as it
ἀ was commanded unto thee; declare thou unto them every year tand the day of its days, and} the
᾽ festival of unleavened bread, that they should eat unleavened bread seven days, (and) that they
| should observe its festival, and that they bring an oblation every day during those seven days of

23 joy before the Lord on the altar of your God. For ye celebrated this festival with haste when
ye went forth from Egypt till ye entered into the wilderness of Shur ; for on the shore of the sea ye
completed it.

Laws regarding the jubilees, 1-5, and the Sabbath, 6-13.

1 And after this law I made known to thee the days of the Sabbaths in the desert of Sin[ai], which
2 is between Elim and Sinai. And I told thee of the Sabbaths of the land on Mount Sinai, and I told
thee of the jubilee years in the sabbaths of years: but the year thereof have I not told thee till ye
enter the land which ye are to possess. And the land also shall keep its sabbaths while they dwell
4 upon it, and they shall know the jubilee year. Wherefore I have ordained for thee the year-weeks
i and the years and the jubilees: there are forty-nine jubilees from the days of Adam until this day, 2410 a.m.
and one week and two years: and there are yet forty years to come (lit. ‘ distant’) for learning the 2450 a.s.
¢ commandments of the Lord, until they pass over into the land of Canaan, crossing the Jordan to the
5 west. And the jubilees shall pass by, until Israel is cleansed from all guilt of fornication, and
uncleanness, and pollution, and sin, and error, and dwells with confidence in all the land, and there
shall be no more a Satan or any evil one, and the land shall be clean from that time for evermore.
6 And behold the commandment regarding the Sabbaths—I have written (them) down for thee—
7 and all the judgments of its laws. Six days shalt thou labour, but on the seventh day is the Sabbath
of the Lord your God. In it ye shall do no manner of work, ye and your sons, and your men-
8 servants and your maid-servants, and all your cattle and the sojourner also who is with you. And
the man that does any work on it shall die: whoever desecrates that day, whoever lies with (his)

17. from twenty years old (Exod. xxx. 14, Numb. i. 32). Rabbis said fourteen.
20, Eat its flesh . . . in the court of the house, ἄς. This direction can be justified by an appeal to Deut. xvi. 7
(cf. 6) ‘thou shalt eat it in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose’. But the Mishnah extended this privilege
to Jerusalem at large (eaeces v. 8; Makkoth iii. 3). This extension was necessitated by the vast multitudes which
i came up to this feast (cf. Joseph. Be//, Jud. vi. 9. 3, ii. 14. 3).
\ 21, Based on Deut. xvi. (LXX).
nor. Eth. reads ‘and’ but Latin omits.
go astray from the Lord: Zeph. i. 6.
22. tand the day of its days, andt—Latin 7” tempore dierum suorum, ‘ during its days.’
23. Cf. Exod. xii. 11.
Shur: from Exod. xv. 22.

L. 1. Cf. Exod. xvi. 1. Sinai, corrupt for Sin.

2. Cf, Lev. xxv. 8.

3. Cf. Lev. xxvi. 34.

4. ‘Jubilees’ are periods of forty-nine years in our author's opinion ; of fifty in most Jewish writers.
5. Cf. xxiii. 26-8.

| ee a

ᾷ 7. Exod. xx. 9, lo.

; 8. The man that does any work on it shall die. This statement found in Exod. xxxv. 2 makes death the
3 penalty for any and every breach of the Sabbath.

a Whoever lies with (his) wife. This law sprang probably from the fanatical period referred to in Sanh. 46 a,

1105-2 81 G

THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 50, 8-13

wife, or whoever says he will do something on it, that he will set out on a journey thereon in regard
to any buying or selling: and whoever draws water thereon which he had not prepared for himself
on the sixth day, and whoever takes up any burden to carry it out of his tent or out of his house
9 shall die. Ye shall do no work whatever on the Sabbath day save what ye have prepared for your-
selves on the sixth day, so as to eat, and drink, and rest, and keep Sabbath from all work on that
day, and to bless the Lord your God, who has given you a day of festival and a holy day: and
10 a day of the holy kingdom for all Israel is this day among their days for ever. For great is the
honour which the Lord has given to Israel that they should eat and drink and be satisfied on this
festival day, and rest thereon from all labour which belongs to the labour of the children of men,
save burning frankincense and bringing oblations and sacrifices before the Lord for days and for
11 Sabbaths. This work alone shall be done on the Sabbath-days in the sanctuary of the Lord your
God; that they may atone for Israel with sacrifice continually from day to day for a memorial well-
pleasing before the Lord, and that He may receive them always from day to day according as thou
12 hast been commanded. And every man who does any work thereon, or goes a journey, or tills (his)
farm, whether in his house or any other place, and whoever lights a fire, or rides on any beast, or
travels by ship on the sea, and whoever strikes or kills anything, or s!aughters a beast or a bird, or
13 whoever catches an animal or a bird or a fish, or whoever fasts or makes war on the Sabbaths: The
man who does any of these things on the Sabbath shall die, so that the children of Israel shall
observe the Sabbaths according to the commandments regarding the Sabbaths of the land, as it is
written in the tablets, which He gave into my hands that I should write out for thee the laws of the
seasons, and the seasons according to the division of their days.

Herewith is completed the account of the division of the days.

the period of the Syro-Grecian domination, when a man was put to death for riding a horse. That certain regulations
of this nature existed we must infer from our text, as well as from the Talmudic treatise Nidda 38, Early Chasids
refrained from cohabitation with their wives from the close of the Sabbath to the fourth day of the week, in order that
their wives might not desecrate the Sabbath 271 to 273 days later by child-bearing. Against this ascetic attitude towards
marriage a reaction set in which resulted in the laws of the Mishnah on this subject. Thus the cohabitation of husband
and wife is enjoined on the Sabbath in Nedar iii. 10, viii. 6, while in Baba kamma 82a it is stated that one of the
ordinances instituted by Ezra directed that a man should ‘eat garlic’ (i.e. cohabit) on the eve of the Sabbath. The
severer usage is followed by the modern Samaritans (Eichhorn’s Repertorium, xiii. 257, 282; de Sacy, Notices et
extraits de la Bible, xii. 175: also by the Abyssinian Falashas (Univ. Jsr. 1851, p. 482) and the Karaite Jews (see
Singer, pp. 198-9 note), The Karaite Jews inferred the unlawfulness of cohabitation on the Sabbath from a literal
interpretation of Exod. xxxiv. 21. As regards the usage of the ancient Samaritans there has been some diversity of
opinion. Karo (Beer, Buch der Jubilden, p. 54) argues that the text in Nedar iii. 10 speaks for the existence of the
strict law having existed among the Samaritans at a date anterior to the time of the Karaite Jews, but this is disputed
by Frankel (Zznfluss d. pal. Exeg. 252 seq.).

That he will set out on a journey thereon (4d). a@c omit ‘thereon’. This command was derived from Exod.
xvi. 29, where the people are bidden to ‘abide every man in his place . . . on the seventh day’ and not to go in quest
of manna. - Permission was given to go a distance of 2,000 cubits (Erubin iv. 3, 1, v. 7), which was called the ‘Sabbath
limit’ (NAWN ONN) or simply ‘limit’ (DINN), or Sabbath-day’s journey (σαββάτου ὁδός, Acts i. 12). See Lightfoot,
Exercitations on the Acts, i, 12; Buxtorf and Levy’s Lexicons on O'NN; Schiirer, History of the New Testament
Times, ii. 2. 102-3. Josephus (Azz, xiii. 8. 4) speaks of this halacha: οὐκ ἔξεστι δ᾽ ἡμῖν οὔτε τοῖς σαββάτοις οὔτ᾽ ἐν τῇ
ἑορτῇ ὁδεύειν.

In regard to any buying or selling. All the MSS. prefix ‘and’. The true text is uncertain and probably
transposed. Buying and selling are prohibited in Neh. x. 31, xiii. 16, 17.

whoever draws water. This was forbidden by the Karaite Jews (Jost, Gesch. d. Judenth. ii. 304, quoted by
Singer, p. 199 note).

which he had not prepared on the sixth day. This clause comes in awkwardly. A command against
‘ eating or drinking anything’ may have originally preceded this clause in our text. Cf. ii. 30, note.

takes up any burden to carry it, ἄς, See note on ii. 29. This is the thirty-ninth form of work forbidden in
the treatise Shabbath. Ifa man dropped his false teeth it would be unlawful to lift and carry them; for they would
constitute a ‘burden’. Similarly as much ink as would suffice for writing two letters (Edersheim, Life and Times of
Jesus the Messiah,? ii. 782, 784).

12. tills (his) farm: cf. Exod. xxxiv. 21; Shabb. vii. 2.

lights a fire: forbidden in Exod. xxxv. 3; Numb. xv. 32, 33.

rides on any beast: cf. Sanh. 46a; Beza v. 2.

strikes or kills anything: cf. Shabb. vii. 2.

fasts: cf. Judith, viii. 6.

makes war: cf. Shabb. vi. 2,4; 1 Macc. ii. 31-8; 2 Macc. vi. 11, χν. 1 ; Joseph. Amz. xiii, 12. 4, xiv. 4.2. Partially
superseded in 1 Macc. ii. 41. It was a constant hindrance to the Jews, especially at Pompey’s siege of Jerusalem
(Joseph. Axz. xiv. 4. 2), but was once abandoned with success in the final war (Joseph. Be//. ii. 19. 2).

THE LETTER OF ARISTEAS

INTRODUCTION

δι. THE CHARACTER OF THE EPISTLE.

THE Epistle claims to be a contemporary record, written with the personal knowledge of an
eye-witness, by Aristeas, an officer at the court of Ptolemy Philadelphus (285-247 B.C.), to his
brother Philocrates, giving an account of the circumstances which led up to the composition of the
LXX version of the Jewish law. The events with which it deals are supposed to take place during
the lifetime of Queen Arsinoe (§ 41). As Arsinoe became Queen about 278 B.c. and died in
270 B.C., these dates provide us with the time limits within which the story must be placed. If the
allusion to the royal children in § 41 is not an anachronism, but contains a reference to the fact that
Arsinoe, finding herself childless, adopted the offspring of her predecessor, the date must be fixed
towards the end of this period.!. The writer strives to give us the impression that the Epistle was
composed almost immediately after the occurrence of the events which it records.

This claim, however, cannot be sustained. There are many reasons which make it quite
certain that the Epistle could not have been written by a Greek Court-official in the time of
Ptolemy Philadelphus.

1. On two occasions the writer makes statements which betray the fact that he belongs toa later
age. In § 28 he speaks of the manner in which ‘the affairs of state used to be carried out by these
Egyptian kings’ and in § 182, after referring to the arrangement which was made for the entertain-
ment of guests at court in the time of Philadelphus, he adds the significant words, ‘ it is an arrange-
ment which is still maintained to-day’.

2. The writer is guilty of several serious historical anachronisms.

(a) He represents Demetrius of Phalerum as head of the library of Alexandria and ascribes
the translation of the law to his influence and initiative (δὲ 9-11 ct passim). The evidence, however,
proves quite conclusively that Demetrius was banished by Philadelphus at the commencement of
his reign (c. 283 B.C.) for supporting the claim of Keraunos to the throne, and died shortly afterwards
(see note on § 9).

(6) In § 180 Aristeas makes Philadelphus allude to a ‘naval victory over Antigonus’. If the
reference is to the battle of Kos (258 B.C.), he is guilty not only of turning a defeat into a victory,
but also of antedating the event by some twenty years or so. If, as many scholars suppose, the
reference is to the battle of Andros, the former objection is removed (for Egypt was victorious at
Andros) but the latter difficulty is intensified, for the battle was not fought till at any rate the last
year of the reign of Philadelphus (247 B.C.) and possibly not till the beginning of the reign of his
successor.

(c) In § 201 Menedemus the philosopher is represented as being present at the banquet and
taking part in the discussion. Menedemus lived at Eretria and we have no evidence that he ever
visited Alexandria. Moreover, he probably died in 277 B.C.,a year or two before the time when
Aristeas introduces him into the narrative. The references to Theopompus (ᾧ 314) and Theodektes
(ὃ 316) seem to be equally impossible, and the stories which are told about them must be regarded
as purely fictitious.

(4) At times the Epistle assumes the existence of the LXX before the translation was made.
In δῷ 57-8 the specifications of the table which Philadelphus sent as a present to Eleazar are taken
from the LXX, which differs very considerably from the Hebrew. In § 228 a phrase from the LXX
of Deut. xiii. 6 is put into the mouth of one of the Jewish envoys. In the description of the dress
of the High Priest (§§ 96-9) many terms are used from the LXX of Exodus xxviii and xxix.

1 Epiphanius gives the date as the 7th year of Philadelphus ‘ more or less’; other ecclesiastical writers give the
2nd 17th, 19th, or 20th year.
83 ' G2

THE LETTER OF ARISTEAS

In § 155 there is a conflate quotation made up of phrases taken from the LXX of two different
passages in Deuteronomy. And—most important of all—the law is spoken of as Scripture (δὲ 155
and 168).

3. The writer of the Epistle could not have been a Greek courtier, as he claims to be in § 16.
To write under a Greek mask was a favourite literary device of Jewish apologists. We have
examples of it in the Sibylline books, in pseudo-Hecataeus, and in the forged additions which were
made to the Greek poets (Schiirer, EZ ii. 3, p. 294 8). The whole tone of the letter from
beginning to end proves conclusively that its author was a Jew and that the Greek réle was assumed
to strengthen the force of the argument and commend it to non-Jewish readers.

The Epistle of Aristeas therefore must not, in spite of its author’s asseverations, be regarded as
a historical document. It is really a piece of apologetic—‘a panegyric’ as Schiirer describes it—
‘upon Jewish law, Jewish wisdom, and the Jewish name in general’. We may compare it to
a modern historical novel written with a purpose. It is only valuable because it indicates the
views which were held at the time when it was written with regard to the origin of the LXX.

It may be added that the genuineness and authenticity of the letter were first questioned by
Ludovicus de Vives in his commentary on Aug. de Civ. Dei xviii. 4 (1522),.and subsequently by
Scaliger. Ussher and Voss defended the letter, but its claim to belong to the period of Philadelphus
was finally destroyed by Humphry Hody (1684-1705), though unsuccessful attempts were made
later on by Grinfield in his Apology for the LXX (1850) and by Oeconomus in his περὶ τῶν οἵ
ἑρμηνευτῶν (Athens, 1844-9) to resuscitate its reputation.

§ 2. THE CONTENTS AND PURPOSE OF THE EPISTLE.

The contents of the Epistle may be analysed as follows :—
I. Introduction, dedicating the book to Philocrates, §§ 1-8.

II. Preliminary proceedings, δὲ 9-51.
(a) The proposal of Demetrius, δὲ 9-12.
(ὁ) The emancipation of the Jewish captives, δὲ 13-28.
(c) The letter of Philadelphus to Eleazar, δὲ 29-40.
(4) The reply of Eleazar, δὲ 41-6.
(6) The names of the translators, δ 47-50.

III. The description of the royal presents to Eleazar, §§ 52-82,
(a) The sacred table, δ 52-72.
(ὁ) The other presents, δὲ 73-82.

IV. The description of Jerusalem, δὲ 83-120.
(a) The temple, including the arrangements for the water supply, §§ 83-91.
(ὁ) The ministration of the priests and of Eleazar in particular, §§ 92-9.
(c) The Akra or citadel, §§ 100-4.
(4) A brief description of the city itself, δὲ 105-6.
(e) A description of the country districts of Palestine, δὲ 107-20.

V. Eleazar’s farewell to the translators, §§ 120-7.
VI. Eleazar’s defence of the Jewish law, δὲ 128-71.
VII. The reception of the translators at Alexandria, δὲ 172-86.

VIII, The banquet, and the table-talk of the translators. The 72 questions and answers,
§§ 187-300.
IX. The translation and reception of the law, §§ 301-22.
The apologetic interest of the Epistle reveals itself in the following directions :—

1. The account of the liberation of the Jewish captives by Ptolemy Philadelphus indicates that
one of the aims of the author was to vindicate the right of the Jewish people to political liberty.
The writer holds up the magnanimity of the king as a mirror to his own age and cites it as an
illustration of the attitude which ought to be adopted by rulers towards the Jewish race. The
pl of Aristeas and Sosibius to Philadelphus is really directed to the authorities of the writer’s
own day.

2. The vindication of the purpose and function of the Jewish law forms the theme of one of the
most important sections of the book (§§ 128-71). The writer admits that there were many enact-

-
4
+.
4a

δ
π
i

INTRODUCTION

ments in the Mosaic code which seemed incomprehensible to the ordinary mind, e.g. the distinction
between clean and unclean meats. The method by which he justifies these injunctions is ingenious
and interesting. For the first time in the history of Jewish apologetic he resorts to the allegorical
method for which Alexandria in later times became so famous. He rejects ‘the degrading notion’
that the regulations were made in the interests of the animals themselves (§ 144) and insists that they
are merely ‘symbols’, drawn up to teach men lessons of righteousness (§ 151).

3. The long section, which relates the table-talk between Philadelphus and his guests, is intro-
duiced to exemplify the wisdom, moral insight, intellectual ability, and philosophical acumen of the
leaders of the Jewish people. The high commendation which is given to the answers by the
philosophers at the court and especially by Menedemus (§$ 200, 201) serves to exalt the endowments
of the Jewish translators at the expense of other teachers. The writer, however, is aware that he has
overdone the encomium on Jewish wisdom, for he adds: ‘I suppose it will séem incredible to those
who will read my narrative’, § 296. The writer’s argument is in line with the theory commonly
adopted by Jewish apologists, that the philosophers of Greece derived their wisdom from the
teaching of Moses.

4. There are other signs, too, that the Epistle was intended by its author to advocate the Jewish
propaganda :—

(a) In ὃ 16 an attempt is made to show that the God of the Jews is to be identified with the
being ‘ whom all men worship ’, though they call him by other names.

(4) The idealized picture of Eleazar and the Jewish priests in δῷ 92-9 is obviously intended to
affect the mind of the reader. ‘I am convinced’, writes Aristeas, ‘that any man who takes part in the
spectacle . . . will be filled with indescribable wonder and be profoundly affected in his mind’, § 99.

(c) The stamp of approval which is given to the LXX in § 310 is intended to vindicate it against
the attacks of critics and secure appreciation for it in the minds of Greek readers.

It is not too much to say that the writer’s one object is to.demonstrate the supremacy of the
Jewish people—the Jewish priesthood, the Jewish law, the Jewish philosophy, and the Jewish Bible.

§ 3. THE DATE OF THE EPISTLE.

The date of the Epistle constitutes an almost insoluble problem. There are three main
theories—(1) Schiirer holds that it was written about 200 B.C.; (2) Wendland places it between
96-93 B.C.; (3) Graetz and Willrich assign it to the age of Caligula (later than 33 A.D.).

The arguments upon which Schiirer relies are as follows:—(1) The reference to the translation
of the LXX in Aristobulus (170-150 B.c.). The words of Aristobulus as reported by Eusebius
(Pracp. Evang. xiii. 12. 2) are as follows :—7 δὲ ὅλη ἑρμηνεία τῶν διὰ τοῦ νόμου πάντων ἐπὶ τοῦ προσαγο-
ρευθέντος Φιλαδέλφου βασιλέως. . .. Δημητρίου τοῦ Φαληρέως πραγματευσαμένου τὰ περὶ τούτων. * The com-
plete translation of the whole of the Jewish law was made in the time of the king who was surnamed
Philadelphus, and was due to the efforts of Demetrius of Phalerum.’ Schiirer argues that the
introduction of the anachronism with regard to Demetrius makes it certain that Aristobulus is
dependent upon Aristeas, and as Aristobulus is dated about 170-150 B.c., Aristeas must be written
some years earlier. The argument of Schiirer is corroborated to some extent by the interesting
parallel between Aristeas § 306 and a passage of Aristobulus quoted in Eusebius, Praep.
Evang. viii. 10. 377 a.

Aristeas. Aristobulus,
7 ‘ > , . cal -“ / 7 s ~ > ‘ lal > [4 , a
πασα yop ενεργεια διὰ των χείρων γίνεται. WOTE .. . - Ty Tacav lo Xuv των ἀνθρώπων καὶ TAS

ἐνεργείας ἐν ταῖς χερσὶν εἶναι.

Unfortunately for Schiirer, however, the genuineness of these quotations, and indeed of the whole
work attributed to Aristobulus, has been seriously questioned by some modern scholars, e.g.
Kuenen, Graetz, Joel, L. Cohn, and Wendland. And even if their authenticity be admitted, there
is nothing to prove that Aristeas must be the earlier of the two writers. It is quite possible that,
instead of Aristobulus using Aristeas as Schiirer supposes, it may have been Aristeas who used
Aristobulus.

(2) Schiirer lays great stress on the political condition of Palestine as described in the Epistle:
‘A period when the Jewish people were leading a peaceful and prosperous existence under the
conduct of their high priest and in a relation of very slight dependence upon Egypt, i.e. the period
before the conquest of Palestine by the Seleucidae, evidently from the background of the book. There
is nowhere any allusion to the complications which begin with the Seleucidian conquest. The

: 85

THE LETTER OF ARISTEAS

Jewish people and their high priest appear as almost politically independent. Especially is it
worthy of remark that the fortress of Jerusalem is in the possession of the Jews’ (ZT ii. 3. 309 f.).
There would be additional force in Schiirer’s argument if we could rely upon the statement of
Josephus that during the Maccabean war the Jews razed the Akra to the ground (see note on § 100).
In view of the fact, however, that Josephus is in conflict with 1 Maccabees and the possibility, which
G. A. Smith suggests, that Aristeas may not be referring to the original Akra but to the later Baris,
the point cannot be pressed.

The argument would possess considerable weight if it could be proved that the section which
deals with Palestine was written from the author’s own observations. But if, as Wendland has made
extremely probable, Aristeas obtained his information second-hand from the writings of Hecataeus,
the data cannot be used as Schiirer uses them and the ground is cut from underneath his position.

It is extremely difficult to maintain so early a date as 200 B.C. in view of the internal evidence
supplied by the Epistle itself. There are a number of points—none of them conclusive in itself, but
possessing cumulative effect when they are taken together—which seem to render it extremely
probable that the document belongs to the post-Maccabean period :—

1. In the list of the seventy-two translators, which is due to the writer’s imagination, there are
many names which are particularly associated with the Maccabean age, e.g. Mattathias, Judas (three
times), Simon (three times), Jonathan (three times). Moreover, the high priest in Aristeas bears the
same name as the famous Eleazar who is the hero of 2 Maccabees. The unusual names Chelchias
(among the 72), Sosibius, and Dositheus are found among the courtiers of the later Ptolemies,
and possibly the author himself, as Wendland suggests, assumes the name of the later historian
Aristeas (see note on § 6).

2. The evidence of the Papyri affords a clear presumption in favour of the later date. Three
points seem to have been made out :—

(2) The omission of the pronoun in the formula ἐὰν φαίνηται does not occur on the Papyri till
163 B.C. (see note on § 32).

(ὁ) Strack has proved that while the title ἀρχισωματοφύλαξ is often found in the singular in the
Papyri of the third cent. B.c., the plural form which is used in § 40 of Aristeas does not occur till
about 145 B.C.

(c) The use of the word ‘friends’ as a court title is not found till the Papyri of the period of
Ptolemy V (205-182 B.C.), see note on ᾧ 45.1

3. Certain statements of the Epistle seem to bear out the same point. To quote Thackeray:
‘The alleged widespread interest in the Jewish law (ᾧ 128) and the false views which were in
circulation about it (§ 144), the pointed reference to a difference between the Greek text and the
Hebrew in a passage of Exodus (§ 57), and the probable allusion to attempts which had been made
to improve on the rendering of the translators—all these appear to indicate a date further removed
from the age of Philadelphus than that which Schiirer would adopt.

If Schiirer’s view is too early, the date assigned to the Epistle by * Graetz and Willrich is too
late. It is difficult to see how the document could have sufficiently established its reputation to be
used by Philo and Josephus, if it had been composed as late as 33 B.C. Moreover, the description of
Palestine, even though it is borrowed from Hecataeus, could scarcely have been written in its present
form after the Roman occupation of Palestine. The island of Pharos, too, is described as inhabited.
The conquest of Egypt by Julius Caesar rendered it desolate (Strabo xvii. 6).

The evidence seems to suggest a date between 130 and 70 B.c. May we go further with
Wendland and fix upon a definite point within this period? The grounds upon which Wendland
decides for 96-93 B.C. are as follows :—In § 115 the ports of Ascalon, Joppa, Gaza, and Ptolemais
are said to be in possession of the Jews. Joppa was conquered about 146 B.C., but Gaza was not
captured till 96 B.c., and Ascalon and Ptolemais never became Jewish territory. It is of course the
capture of Gaza which is the determining point with Wendland. It is quite conceivable, however,
that the author, writing at an earlier time, may have made the same mistake about Gaza as he did
about Ptolemais and Ascalon.

There are one or two facts, however, which it seems difficult to reconcile with a date within the
period 130-70 B.C. Twice in the Epistle the law is spoken of as Scripture. There seems to be no
trace of the application of the term Scripture to the Old Testament before the commencement of the
Christian era. We have no other instance either of the application of the allegorical method in the
manner in which it is used in Aristeas before that date.

* Too much stress should not perhaps be laid on this point as the term may possibly be used in the technical
sense in I Kings iv. 5.
* For the arguments of Graetz see notes on δῷ 28, 167. Drummond, Philo, 233 ff.
86

INTRODUCTION

We seem to have therefore one set of facts, e.g. the Ptolemaic background and the absence of
any reference to the Roman occupation of Palestine, which compel us to date the Epistle before
70 B.C.,and another set of facts which suggest that it could not have originated till the Christian era.

The solution of the problem will probably be found in some such hypothesis as the following.
The Epistle was issued in its present form at the commencement of the Christian era, possibly as
late as the date suggested by Graetz and Willrich—but a large part of it—possibly the whole
except the law section, §§ 128-71—was in existence before and belongs to the period 130-70 B.C.
The law section is quite separate from the rest of the book and might easily have been inserted. It
may also be found, when a detailed comparison has been made between Aristeas and 2 and
3 Maccabees, that other sections or at any rate sentences are the work of the later editor. Nothing
except some form of the partition theory seems likely to provide the key for the riddle.

§ 4. THE AUTHOR.

Nothing is known with regard to the author of the Epistle. We may, however, draw some
inferences from the book with regard to his personality. We may conclude that (1) he was a Few.
This is obvious from the tone and purpose of the book; (2) ἀξ belonged to Alexandria. Lumbroso
has proved that the acquaintance which the book shows with the technicalities of the Court life of
the later Ptolemies clearly indicates that it was of Alexandrian origin. The employment of the
allegorical method of interpreting the law points to the same conclusion. (3) He was a propagandist,
as is evidenced by the apologetic interest of the book. (4) He belonged to what may be termed
‘the common sense school of philosophy’. There are no flights of speculation in the book. No
problems trouble the mind of the author, who is simple and conventional in his treatment of the
ethical and religious questions which emerge. (5) His attachment and devotion to the Jewish law
indicate that the author had leanings towards Pharisaism, though it: must be admitted that his
Pharisaism is not of a pronounced type, except in the section dealing with the Jewish law.
(6) He was interested (a) in psychology (δὲ 155-6) and especially in the psychology of sleep
(δὲ 160, 213-16); (6) in political and social problems (passim, see Introduction, § 6). (7) Swete
has an interesting suggestion that he was a native of Cyprus, based on the fact that his brother
came from that island,and that the name Aristeas frequently occurs on the Inscriptions found in the
islands of the Aegean (/ztrod. to LX X. το).

§ 5. SOURCES.

The author claims to write as an eyewitness and consequently gives little indication of the
sources from which his information was derived. The only indications which he affords us of having
used other authorities are (1) the quotation from Hecataeus in § 31; (2) his reference to tht
Minutes of Court Proceedings in § 298. We may dismiss the latter at once as an attempt on the part
of the author to secure credence for his narrative. The allusion to Hecataeus, however, is more
important, and if Wendland is right, reveals the real source which lies behind the Epistle. The
quotations which Josephus gives from Hecataeus, though they may be coloured by later tradition
or even by Josephus himself, indicate that he covered pretty much the same ground as Aristeas in
his description of Palestine. Similar resemblances are pointed out between Diodorus Siculus, who
embodied a great deal of Hecataeus in his writings, and our Epistle. Among the points of similarity
between the statements of Aristeas and what may be assumed to have been said by Hecataeus,
Wendland mentions the following—(a) the account of the Jewish Diaspora in Egypt, δῷ 12, 13; (d)
the comparison between the God of the Jews and Zeus (§ 16); (c) the high praise which is bestowed
upon agriculture (§ 107 ff.); (@) the description of the Temple and the priesthood at Jerusalem
(δῷ 83 f., 92 f.) ; (e) the description of the produce and agriculture of Palestine (δὲ 107-20).

There are, however, some points of discrepancy between Hecataeus and Aristeas which weaken
the force of Wendland’s argument; (a) in ὃ 105 Aristeas describes the extent of the city as
40 furlongs, while Hecataeus says 50; (4) in § 95 Aristeas estimates the number of Jewish priests at
7co, while Hecataeus puts the figure at 1,500. We may conclude therefore that while it is certain
that Aristeas made use of Hecataeus, very possibly Wendland has exaggerated the extent of his ,
indebtedness.

For the table-talk section it is possible that Aristeas made use of a collection of ‘Moral
Sayings’, though whether they were Jewish or Greek cannot be determined. The theological
conclusion, which the writer adds, is sometimes forced and fails to fit on to the previous statement.

THE LETTER OF ARISTEAS

§ 6. THEOLOGY AND ETHICAL TEACHING.

The Epistle is not directly interested in theological problems. The most interesting features
are its doctrine of God and its view with regard to the significance of the Jewish law.

1. The conception of God is in many ways quite modern. The most noteworthy point is the
identification of the God of the Hebrews with Zeus (ὃ 16). Stress is laid upon Monotheism (§§ 132,
139). It is through God that ‘all things are endowed with life and come into being’ (δ 16). ‘ His
power is manifested throughout the Universe and every place is filled with His sovereignty ’ (§ 132).
He is the source of all the endowments and blessings of life (δ 190). Evil as well as good comes
from His hand (δ 197). We are dependent upon him for success (§ 196) and for virtue (§ 226 e¢
passim). He is the ‘ruler and lord of the Universe’ (§§ 16, 201, 210), ὁ κυριεύων ἁπάντων θεός
(§§ 18, 45), the most High God (μέγιστος θεός § 19), the great godhead (μεγάλη Oewrns § 95), the
Almighty (6 παντοκράτωρ θεός § 185). Nothing can be hid from Him. ‘ None of the things which
are wrought in secret by men upon the earth escapes His knowledge’ (§ 132). He sways the lives
of men (§ 17) and grants answers to their prayers (§ 192). The utmost emphasis is laid upon the
benignity, the forbearance, and the forgiveness of God, who is described as χωρὶς ὀργῆς ἁπάσης (§ 254).
Though there is a general reference to the punishments which He inflicts upon the guilty in § 131,
yet it is elsewhere asserted that these punishments are mild and that ‘ God instils fear into the minds
of men by granting reprieves and makes merely a display of the greatness of his power’ (§ 194).
There is a vigorous attack upon idolatry in §§ 134-7 which is remarkable for its Euhemeristic
explanation of the origin of idol-worship.

2. The section on the Jewish law is the outstanding feature of the book. The law is described
as ‘ Scripture’ (§ 168, cf. ὃ 155) and as the ‘Oracles of God’ (§§ 158,177). Its divine origin is
continually emphasized (§§ 31, 240, 313). It is entirely free from blemish (§ 31), and the utmost
sanctity attaches to it (δῷ 31,171). It is the peculiar protection of Israel, ‘It has fenced us round
with impregnable ramparts and walls of iron that we might not mingle with the other nations’
(§ 139). It contains the moral ideal. ‘The good life consists in keeping the enactments of the
law’ (δ 127). ‘All its ordinances have been drawn up to assist the quest for virtue and the perfecting
of character’ (§ 144, cf. §§ 168, 169). Some of its regulations may seem trivial but there is a hidden
meaning attached to them, and they are all intended to teach a moral lesson (ὃ 150), By a novel
application of the allegorical method, Aristeas endeavours to show the real significance of the law
with regard to unclean food, and he is specially ingenious in his interpretation of the ‘ cloven hoof’
and ‘ chewing the cud’ (δὲ 150-6).

3. Aristeas has no doctrine of sin. The word only occurs once and then it is used in quite
a general sense (ὃ 192). On more than one occasion, however, he refers to the natural bias toward
evil in human nature. ‘Every man has a natural tendency towards the pursuit of pleasure ’ (§ 108,
cf. §§ 222-3). ‘All men are by nature intemperate and inclined to pleasure. Hence injustice
springs up and a flood of avarice’ (§ 277).

4. Ethical Teaching. A great part of the book is devoted to ethical teaching but it is very
largely conventional and possesses very little originality. The utmost emphasis is laid on the con-
nexion between morality and religion. God is ‘ the starting point’ (xarapx7) of ethics (§§ 189, 200,
235). The moral ideal is embodied in the law (§ 127), and it is through the power of God that its
realization becomes possible. The latter point is brought out clearly in § 236, ‘The soul is so
constituted that it is able by the divine power alone to receive the good and reject the opposite’ ;
and again, in § 231, ‘It is the gift of God to be able to do good actions’ (see also §§ 226, 238, 248).
Virtue is spoken of as a general principle which is ‘the source of good deeds’ (§ 272). The
Aristotelian virtue of ‘the middle course’ or moderation comes into prominence on several occasions
($$ 122, 223, 256). Aversion of ‘the Golden Rule’ in its negative form appears in § 207. There
is no trace of dualism—in fact the divine origin of the body, and the manifestation of the wisdom of
God in its various organs and functions are clearly enunciated in §§ 155-6. Stress is sometimes
laid on outward observances and etiquette (§ 246), The teaching shows no sign of asceticism though
men are constantly warned not to allow themselves to be carried away by passion and impulse and
urged to a life of self-discipline and self-control (§§ 209, 216, 221, 238, 248, 256). The other virtues
emphasized are justice and righteousness (‘injustice is equivalent to the deprivation of life’, § 212),
sobriety, temperance, kindness, duty to parents and children, truthfulness, forbearance, sympathy,
and forgiveness. Among the vices to be avoided are injustice, pride, intemperance, lying, pleasure-
seeking, churlishness, anger, and malice. The general teaching of the book may be summed up in
the words of § 195: ‘The highest good in life is to know that God is the Lord of the Universe and
that in our finest achievements it is not we who attain success but God who by his power brings all
things to fulfilment and leads us to the goal’.

——

INTRODUCTION

5. Political Philosophy. Aristeas incidentally draws a picture of the ideal monarch who is
portrayed as a benevolent despot and a philosopher-king. No other form of government is discussed
at all. The question is indeed raised as to whether a man born to the purple or a private citizen
makes the best ruler, but it is left unanswered (§§ 288-go0). The absoluteness of the monarchy is
taken for granted. He has power of life and death over his subjects (δ 253). But he is urged to
remember that only justice and benevolence, and clemency, and a real desire to promote the welfare
of his subjects can render his throne secure (δὲ 205, 225, and 283). The ideal condition is reached
‘when subjects continually dwell in a state of peace and justice is speedily administered’ (§ 291).
In order to secure this end, the king must study the part he has to play, as actors do (ὃ 219), and
strict rules of etiquette must be maintained at Court (ὃ 246). He must pay careful attention to the
official reports which are sent up from the provinces, with a view to the correction of abuses and the
removal of grievances (§ 283). He must take special precautions to see that his subordinates are
not guilty of injustice or oppression (§ 271), and he must put down informers with a strong hand
(δὲ 166, 167). Moreover, he must see to it that his employés are paid a fair wage (§ 258). Above
Ἢ he must remember that he owes his throne to God and only the power of God can keep it secure
(§ 224).

The interest which Aristeas takes zz social problems is seen in his views on the following
points—(a) He advocates mi/d forms of punishment for offenders. ‘If you exhibit clemency,...
you will turn men from evil and lead them to repentance’ (ἢ 188, see sb § 208). (ὁ) He gives an
account of the measures which were adopted at Alexandria to prevent the depopulation of the rural
districts by influx into the towns (§§ 107-11), and his words seem to suggest that the question was
as acute in his day as it is in modern times. (c) He is impressed with the difficulties that. arise
from the mingling of different races in the big centres, and is opposed to ‘ residence abroad ’ whether
for rich or poor (§ 249). (d@) He is emphatic in demanding fair wages for artisans (δὲ 258-9).
(6) He holds pronounced views on the inferiority of women, ‘Women are by nature headstrong and
energetic in the pursuit of their own desires, and subject to sudden changes of opinion through
fallacious reasoning, and they are essentially weak’ (§ 250).

§ 7, THE MANUSCRIPTS.

The two chief authorities on the textual criticism of Aristeas are Wendland and Thackeray,
both of whom have constructed a modern text of the Epistle. Thackeray’s text was published in
1900 as an appendix to Swete’s ‘Introduction to the Old Testament in Greek’, and Wendland’s
appeared the same year.

The two texts are not made entirely out of the same materials and unfortunately the Editors
use a different system of denominating the MSS. in their apparatus criticus.

I propose to state first the MSS. which have been used by both Editors, and then those which
have been used by one of them, and finally those which do not seem as yet to have been used at all.

I. The MSS. which have been used by both editors. For the purpose of convenience I give both
systems of notation.

Wend. Thack.
Vaticanus 383 A, Ἀ Κ.
Venice 534 ν α.
Palat. 203 1 Ἰ;
Flor. Laur. 44. Ι, Ἂν
Barberini iv. 56 B Ῥ'
Vaticanus 747 GC H.
II. In addition to these Wendland has used
Monacensis 9 ᾿ Μ.
III. The additional MSS. used by re are
Paris 128 A.
Paris 129 B.
Paris 5 Cc:
Paris 950. Q.
Ziirich (Omont 169) Ζ.

We may include also three MSS. which are the descendants of Paris 128(A.)

Paris 130. . Ἶ . : D.
Brit. Mus. Burney 44.0% : ; ; ἘΣ
Vatican 746 : “ . ‘ : L.

THE LETTER OF ARISTEAS

and one MS. which is a transcript of Vaticanus 383 (K.)

Basileensis O. iv. τὸ. : : ‘ R.
Partial use has also been made of
Vaticanus 1668 . : ss F S.

Mention is made too in the introduction of a MS. which does not appear to be cited in the apparatus
criticus.
Ottobonianus 32 . : Σ ᾿ ξ Μ.
IV. Certain other MSS. are known to exist but do not appear to have been collated.

Atheniensis 389.
Scorialensis &. 1. 6.
Monacensis 82.

V. In addition to the MSS., we have (a) the paraphrase of Josephus which covers the ground of δ 9-81,
&c.; (ὁ) the citations in Eusebius, of δὲ 9—11, δὲ 28-46, §§ 88-go, δὲ 128-71. Eusebius is the more valuable
of the two, because Josephus has taken the trouble to rewrite every sentence, and though he still employs the
characteristic words and phrases of Aristeas, it is very often impossible to reconstruct the text which he was
using. ‘The citations in Eusebius are on the whole accurate and reliable ; he sometimes abbreviates a little
and sometimes misquotes, but as Freudenthal says, ‘it is only in extremely rare cases that he inserts additions
of his own, and the cases in which we meet with fundamental alterations of the text are still more uncommon.’
(Quoted by Thackeray, Swete, Jntrod. to LXX, p. 576.)

Classification of MSS. With regard to the classification of the MSS. Wendland and Thackeray
are on the whole in agreement, though there is some difference as to details. For the sake of com-
parison I append a table, giving the two classifications, using the notation of Thackeray in order to
make the agreements and differences obvious :

Thackeray. Wendland.
(2) TB TBPSZ
sal ta CPSZ
{(2) GIM : a) GIMC
cade gee \(8) HA(DFL)K(R) ἰδ) ΗΚΑΡΕ
Group ΠῚ wanting Cod. Monacensis 9

It will be seen that the only essential differences are (2) Thackeray puts C (Paris 5) in group I,
Wendland in group II ; (4) Wendland uses Cod. Monacensis 9 and places it in a group by itself.

But though the two editors are in general agreement with regard to classification, they differ
with regard to the comparative value of the groups. Wendland holds that the purest text is found
in Cod. Monacensis 9 which Thackeray does not use at all, the next most important MSS. being T,
P, and the MSS. of the first group, while the second group is ‘ minoris pretii’. Thackeray, on the
other hand, maintains that the first group ‘ while presenting a specious text is in reality based upon
a recension, though in a few passages it has kept the original readings’. In the second group ‘no
correction has taken place, and though the text which has been handed down is not altogether free
from corruption, yet the true reading is in most cases to be looked for here’.

A full account of the different MSS. will be found in Swete (Jztrod. to LX X, 504-16).

It remains to add.the names of scholars who have worked on the emendation of the text.

C. L. Struve, Opuscula Selecta 11, pp. 195-7, 279, 277, 310, 311, 329. Lipsiae, 1854.
C. G. Cobet, Λόγιος Ἑρμῆς, vol. i, pp. 177-81. Leyden, 1866.
Lumbroso, Dell’ uso delle iscrizioni e dei papyri per la critica del libro adi Aristea: Atti della R. Accad,
delle Scienze di Torino, vol. iv, 1868-9, pp. 229-54.
L. Mendelssohn, Zum Aristeasbriefe: Rhein. Mus. xxx. 1875, pp. 631, 632.
Aristeae quae fertur ad Philocratem Epistulae initium. Jurievi, 1897.
Kuiper, De Aristeae ad Philocratem fratrem epistola. Mnemosyne, xx. 1892, pp. 252-72.

§ 8. EDITIONS. -

The earliest edition of Aristeas appeared in the form of a Latin translation by Matthias
Palmerius which was published at Rome in 1471 in the famous Roman Bible of Suueynheym and
Pannartz, reprinted at Niirnberg 1475, and issued separately at Erfurt 1483. The ditto princeps in
Greek was issued by Simon Schard at Basle in 1561. .Upon what MSS. Schard’s edition rested, is

INTRODUCTION

a matter of dispute. We know that Codex Basileensis O. iv. 10 (R) was presented to the library
at Basle by Schard, but we may be certain that he did not use it as the basis of his text. R is
a transcript of Vaticanus 383 (K), and it is from this MSS. that Schard’s variae lectiones were taken:
Wendland thinks that the text was derived from Codex Monacensis 9.

Up till 1870 all editions were simply reprints of Schard, e.g. the text prefixed by Hody to his
De Bibliorum Textibus in 1705, or the text in Havercamp’s Yosephus, or in Gallandi’s Bibliotheca
Patrum (ii. 773-804).

The modern study of Aristeas began with the publication of Schmidt’s new text, which was
published in Merx’ Archiv fiir wissenschaftl. Erforschung des Alten Testamentes, vol. i (1870),
pp. 241-312. Schmidt collated and used the two Paris MSS. known as Band C. In the same
year a valuable contribution was made to the subject by Prof. Lumbroso, who examined the text of
Aristeas in the light of the Papyri and published his results in his Recherches sur [ économie politique
de lEgypte sous les Lagides (Turin, 1870). His critical study and his emendations have already
been mentioned (Introduction, § 7). Some twenty-five years later Mendelssohn of Dorpat under-
took the task of examining and collating the MSS. with a view to the construction of a scientific
text. He only lived, however, to complete the text of §§ 1-51, which was published in 1897 under
the title Aristeae quae fertur ad Philocratem epistulae initium. The work which he left unfinished
was taken up by Wendland in Germany and Thackeray in England, whose texts were published
in 1900 (see Introduction, § 7).

Little has been done at present in the way of commentary. The Epistle is still very largely virgin
soil. The absence of a proper text, and the difficulty of looking up references, since the text was
not broken up into sections till Wendland’s edition, together with the general neglect of the study
of non-canonical Jewish literature until the recent revival, have left, what is from many points of
view a most valuable document, in obscurity.

The only good translations are Wendland’s in German (Kautzsch ii. 1-30) and Thackeray’s in
English (70 R xv. 337-91). I regret that I did not discover the latter till my own translation was
complete, but I have found it extremely helpful in revision, and I have made very considerable use
of the footnotes, which are more extensive than those in Kautzsch.

With regard to the general literature on the Epistle, there is not very much to be said. The
best account of the book (apart from the introductions in Kautzsch and Thackeray) is in Schiirer,
ET ii. 3. 306-17, where a full account is given of the older literature, and in Drummond,
Philo, i. pp. 230-42. The only important monographs are Kurz, Aristeae epistula ad Philocraten,
Bern, 1872; Graetz, Die Abfassungszeit des Pseudo-Aristeas (Monatsschr. fiir Gesch.und Wissensch.
des Fudenthums, 1876, pp. 289 f., 337 f.); Papageorgios, Ueber den Aristeasbrief, Miinchen, 1880.
References are found in many Jewish Histories and Introductions to the Old Testament, e. g.
Néldeke, Freudenthal, Ewald, Hitzig. Amongst the more recent discussions may be mentioned,
the articles by L. Cohn on the relation between Aristeas and Philo in Neue Fahrbiicher fiir das
hlass. Alterth, i (1898), 521 ff.,and H. Willrich on the date in Fudaica, Gottingen, 1900, pp. 111-30,
and the references in Nestle’s article on the ‘Septuagint’, DBZ iv. 438 f., and in Swete’s Jztro-
duction to LXX, pp. 10-20, 500-74, and Nestle’s article on Aristeas in Realencyclopidie.

§9. THE INFLUENCE OF ARISTEAS ON LATER LITERATURE.

A complete catena of ‘Testimonia’ is printed in full in Wendland’s edition of the text of
Aristeas (pp. 87-166), to which some few addenda have been made by Nestle, DBH iv. 439. It
will only be possible to mention the more important facts here.

A. Fewish Literature.

The earliest authority generally cited is Aristobulus. The relevant passages have already
been quoted in Introduction § 3. See also note on § 30, The grounds for rejecting the genuineness
of the fragments ascribed to Aristobulus by Eusebius are given by L. Cohn (Neue Fahrbiicher f. d.
klass. Alterthum, i. 8 (1895)) and Wendland (Byzantinische Zeitschrift, vii (1898), 447-9).

The use of Aristeas by Philo (De Vita Mosis, ii. 5-7) seems clearer, though this too has been
denied by Cohn (ib. 1898, i. 521). Philo states that Philadelphus, ‘the greatest of the Ptolemies,
in his anxiety to obtain a translation of the Jewish law, sent ambassadors to the Jewish High Priest,
and requested him to select men to carry out his wish, The High Priest, thinking that Ptolemy’s
desire was due to divine inspiration, sent some of his most distinguished men to Alexandria. Upon
their arrival the king féted them, and put questions to them to test their wisdom. Owing to the
unhealthiness of the town, they were located on the island of Phargs, where the translation was

THE LETTER OF ARISTEAS

made. The principle which governed it was that the translators regarded themselves as μήτ᾽ ἀφελεῖν
Tt μήτε προσθεῖναι ἣ μεταθεῖναι δυναμένους, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἰδέαν καὶ τὸν τύπον αὐτῶν διαφυλάττοντας
(cf. Aristeas, § 311). There is no specific reference to the Epistle, and many of its salient features
are omitted, but on the whole it seems probable that it formed the basis of Philo’s statement.

With regard to Josephus there is no possibility of doubt. In Avzig. xii. 2 he gives us a running
paraphrase of (a) δὲ 9-81, (4) δὲ 172-87, (c) §§ 201, 293, 294, (4) δὲ 301-21. There is a specific
reference to the book itself—as τῷ βουλομένῳ τὰ κατὰ μέρος γνῶναι τῶν ἐν τῷ συμποσίῳ Cyrnbévtwy εἶναι
μαθεῖν ἀναγνόντι τὸ ᾿Αρισταίου βιβλίον, ὃ συνέγραψε διὰ ταῦτα (ᾧ 100 in the edition of Niese). It should
be noted that Josephus always spells the name ᾿Αρισταῖος, instead of ᾿Αριστέας. There are further
references to the subject matter of the Epistle in Aztig. i. 10; c. Apion. ii. 44.

B. Christian.

There is no clear proof that Aristeas directly influenced the language of the New Testament,
though there are a few interesting parallels.

(1) Aristeas § 177 (cf. § 158)- Romans iii. 2.
> a a ne s_> ‘ ΄ a > ΄ ᾿ , a a
εὐχαριστῶ... . . τῷ θεῷ οὗτινός ἐστι τὰ λόγια ταῦτα. ἐπιστεύθησαν τὰ λόγια τοῦ θεοῦ.

Hebrews v. 12.
τὰ στοιχεῖα τῆς ἀρχῆς τῶν λογίων τοῦ θεοῦ.
(2) § 280. 2 Tim. iv. 8.
θεοῦ cot στέφανον δικαιοσύνης δεδωκότος. ὃ τῆς δικαιοσύνης στέφανος.
This phrase also occurs in the Testaments of the Patriarchs (T. Levi viii. 2).

(3) δὲ 140-1. Matt. vi. 31-3.

. ὃ τοῖς λοιποῖς οὐ πρόσεστιν, . . . ἀλλ᾽ εἰσὶν μὴ οὖν μεριμνήσητε λέγοντες Τί φάγωμεν; ἢ Th
ἄνθρωποι βρωτῶν καὶ ποτῶν καὶ σκέπης. . -. τοῖς δὲ παρ πίωμεν; - -- πάντα γὰρ ταῦτα τὰ ἔθνη ἐπιζητοῦσιν...
ἡμῶν ἐν οὐδενὶ ταῦτα λελόγισται, περὶ δὲ τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ ζητεῖτε δὲ πρῶτον τὴν βασιλείαν. . ..
δυναστείας δι᾿ ὅλου τοῦ ζῆν ἡ σκέψις αὐτοῖς ἐστιν.

(4) Compare also the argument of with
§ 144. 1 Cor. 1%;.6.
You must not fall into the degrading idea that it Is it for the oxen that God careth, or saith he it

was for the sake of mice and weasels that Moses altogether for our sake? Yea for our sake it was
drew up his laws. These ordinances were made for written,
the sake of righteousness.

The earliest reference to the translation of the LXX in Patristic literature is found in JUSTIN
MARTYR (Aol. i. 31), who states that Philadelphus, wishing to obtain a copy of the Hebrew prophets,
sent to King Herod for the Book. When it arrived, it was found to be unintelligible owing to the
language, and Philadelphus sent a second request to the King to send translators.

In the anonymous Cohortatio ad Graecos 13 we find what is probably the first attempt to
embellish the story. The seventy translators were separated, and placed in cells or huts and
not allowed to have any communication with each other. Their translations, when compared,
were found to be in complete agreement, without the slightest variation even of language. The
writer adds that during a visit to Alexandria, he had been shown the tracks (ra ἴχνη) of the cells in
which the translators worked.

The same legendary element is repeated in almost the same form by IRENAEUS (iii. 21, 2, quoted
by Eusebius, HZ v. 8. 11) and CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA, Stromateis i. § 148.

TERTULLIAN (Ajolog. c. 18) is the first writer to mention Aristaeus, as he calls him, by name,
and his version is more sober, but he adds ‘hodie apud Serapeum Ptolomaei bibliothecae cum ipsis
Hebraicis litteris exhibentur’.

The long quotations from the Epistle in the Praeparatio Evangelica of Eusebius have already
been mentioned (Introduction, § 7). Aristeas (Ἀρισταῖος) is described as ἀνὴρ λόγιος μὲν ἄλλως, οὐ
μὴν ἀλλὰ Kal παρατυχὼν τοῖς πραχθεῖσι κατὰ τὸν δεύτερον Πτολεμαῖον (viii. 1. 8), and on one occasion the
title of the book is given as Περὲ τῆς ‘Eppyvelas τοῦ τῶν ᾿Ιουδαίων νόμου (ix. 38).

EPIPHANIUS (De Mensuris et Ponderibus, 3, p. 155) has a long account of the translation of the
Hebrew Bible. Though he quotes Aristeas as his authority (ὡς ἐξέδωκεν ᾿Αρισταῖος ἐν τῷ αὐτοῦ
συντάγματι) there are many discrepancies, (1) He gives the number of the books in the Alexandrian

INTRODUCTION

library as 54,800 πλείω 7 ἐλάσσω. (2) He says that the 72 translators were placed in 36 cells,
and that their translations were found to be in absolute verbal agreement even in their additions
and omissions. (3) He inserts two letters from Philadelphus to the teachers in Jerusalem, neither
of which agrees with the letter to Eleazar in Aristeas, §§ 35 ff., and the second of which contains
a quotation from Sirach xx. 30 = xli. 14 θησαυροῦ Kexpuppévov . . . . τίς ὠφέλεια ἐν ἀμφοτέροις ;
(4) He adds the information that it was ‘the seventh year of Philadelphus more or less’ when the
translation was made. Draeseke maintains that Epiphanius drew his information from the lost
chronicle of Justus of Tiberias.

JEROME (Praef. in Pentateuch. xxxviii, p. 181) takes a more sober view and rejects the story of
the separate cells as being incompatible with the accounts of Aristeas and Josephus, ‘ nescio quis
primus auctor septuaginta cellulas Alexandriae mendacio suo exstruxerit ...cum Aristeas... et
multo post tempore Iosephus nihil tale retulerint, sed in una basilica congregatos contulisse
scribant.’

The embellishments, however, appear again in the account which is given by Augustine of the
origin of the LXX, de Civ. Dei, xviii. 42. For other ‘ Testimonia’ see Wendland.

Ὶ

THE LETTER OF ‘ARISTEAS

1 SINCE I have collected material for a memorable history of my visit to Eleazar the High priest of
the Jews, and because you, Philocrates, as you lose no opportunity of reminding me, have set great
store upon receiving an account of the motives and object of my mission, I have attempted to draw
up a clear exposition of the matter for you, for I perceive that you possess a natural love of learning,

2 a quality which is the highest possession of man—to be constantly attempting ‘ to add to his stock
of knowledge and acquirements’ whether through the study of history or by actually participating
in the events themselves. It is by this means, by taking up into itself the noblest elements, that
the soul is established in purity, and having fixed its aim on piety, the noblest goal of all, it
uses this as its infallible guide and so acquires a definite purpose.

3 It was my devotion to the pursuit of religious knowledge that led me to undertake the embassy to
the man I have mentioned, who was held in the highest esteem by his own citizens and by others
both for his virtue and his majesty and who had in his possession documents of the highest value to the

__Jews in his own country and in foreign lands for the interpretation of the divine law, for their
4 laws are written on leather parchments in Jewish characters. This embassy then I undertook with
| enthusiasm, having first of all found an opportunity of pleading with the king on behalf of the
\ Jewish captives who had been transported from Judea to Egypt by the king’s father, when he first
\_ obtained possession of this city and conquered the land of Egypt. It is worth while that I should tell

5 you this story, too, since I am convinced that you, with your disposition towards holiness and your
sympathy with men who are living in accordance with the holy law, will all the more readily listen
to the account which I purpose to set forth, since you yourself have lately come to us from the

6 island and are anxious to hear everything that tends to build up the soul. On a former occasion,

1. Since I have collected. ᾿Αξιολόγου dinynoews . . . συνεσταμένης. Thackeray renders ‘As the story of our

interview ... is a remarkable one’ —but this does not bring out the full force of συνεσταμένης.
as you lose no opportunity, &c. This translation is based on an emendation of Wendland, who reads zap’
ἕκαστα ὑπομιμνήσκειν for the MSS. παρ᾽ ἕκαστα ὑπομιμνήσκων which is untranslatable.

2. to add to his stock of knowledge. As Thackeray points out, ‘these words form an iambic line in Greek and
are probably a quotation from a lost tragedy.’ He quotes two fragments from Sophocles which convey a similar idea :
‘And we must ever be daily acquiring knowledge while it is possible to learn better things,’ and ‘ Ever desire to add
something useful to thy knowledge’. (vag. 779 and 662 in Dindorf, Poetae Scenict Graeci) QR xv, p. 341.

and so acquires a definite purpose. This rendering follows the text of Thackeray. Wendland connects
τὴν προαίρεσιν with the following sentence. The translation in this case would be, ‘ Having fixed its aim on piety...
it directs its course by an infallible rule. It was my determination to make a careful study of things divine that
led me,’ &c.

3. Documents of the highest value. There is no word for ‘ documents’ in the Greek, which reads κατακεκτημένον
μεγίστην ὠφέλειαν. 1 have adopted the rendering of Wendland and Thackeray though with some hesitation. Possibly
we should translate more simply ‘who had acquired the power of rendering the greatest benefits to the Jews by his
interpretation of the divine law.’

for the interpretation. Thackeray disagreeing with Wendland connects this phrase with the following clause
which he translates ‘ the object of our mission was the translation of the law of God’.

4. This embassy then I undertook, ἣν δὴ καὶ ἐποιησάμεθα ἡμεῖς σπουδῇ. Mendelssohn emends by reading σπουδήν .
on the ground that it is difficult to supply πρεσβείαν as an antecedent, owing to the distance which separates it from
the relative, and Thackeray following this suggestion translates ‘And the interest which we displayed when an
opportunity offered itself, in bringing before the king the case of the men. .. this also is worth while my telling thee’.

transported ... by the king’s father. Ptolemy I (Lagus) 322-285 B.c. ‘When Ptolemy had succeeded to the
throne of Egypt and had beaten off the attack of Perdikkas, he forthwith made an invasion into Palestine and Syria
and annexed all the country. When driven out of it by Antigonus, we hear that he carried off to Egypt a large
number of the inhabitants either as slaves or as compulsory settlers, And this happened apparently four times. He
always retreated in time to carry his booty with him. But in spite of these repeated raids or temporary occupations
and this repeated carrying off of plunder from Palestine, we are persistently informed that the house of Ptolemy was
most popular with the Jews.’ (Mahaffy, EP, p. 87.)

5. from the island. This is generally supposed to refer to Pharos, but it is difficult to see how Philocrates could
have been in ignorance of the events recorded in the Epistle if he had been living so near to Alexandria as Pharos,
especially as the translation of the LXX was made on the island, § 301. Possibly Cyprus is meant ; cf. Swete (Zu¢rod.
to LXX, p. 10, footnote), who draws an inference that Aristeas himself may have been a Cypriote.

THE LETTER OF ARISTEAS 6-12

too, I sent you a record of the facts which I thought worth relating about the Jewish race,—the record
7 which I had obtained from the most learned high priests of the Ὁ most learned + land of Egypt. As you
are so eager to acquire the knowledge of those things which can benefit the mind, I feel it incumbent
upon me to impart to you all the information in my power. I should feel the same duty towards all
who possessed the same disposition but I feel it especially towards you since you have aspirations
which are so noble, and since you are not only my brother in character no less than in blood
8 but are one with me as well in the pursuit of goodness, For neither the pleasure derived from gold
nor any other of the possessions which are prized by shallow minds confers the same benefit as the
pursuit of culture and the study which we expend in securing it, But that I may not weary you by
a too lengthy introduction, I will proceed at once to the substance of my narrative. -
9 Demetrius οἵ Phalerum, the president of the king’s library, received vast sums of money, for the |
purpose of collecting together, as far as he possibly could, all the books in the world. By means of_
purchase and transcription, he carried out, to the best of his ability, the purpose of the king. On
one occasion when I was present he was asked, How many thousand books are there zz 216 library?
to and he replied, ‘ More than two hundred thousand, O king, and I shall make endeavour in the
immediate future 20 gather together the remainder also, so that the total of five hundred thousand
may be reached. Iam told that the laws of the Jews are worth transcribing and deserve a place in
_ tt your library.’ ‘What is to prevent you from doing this?’ replied the king. ‘ Everything that is)
__ necessary has been placed at your disposal.’ ‘They need to be translated,’ answered Demetrius, |
‘for in the country of the Jews they use a peculiar alphabet (just as the Egyptians, too, have |
a special form of letters) and speak a peculiar dialect. They are supposed to use the Syriac
tongue, but this is not the case; their language is quite different.’ And the king when he under-
stood all the facts of the case ordered a letter to be written to the Jewish High Priest that his
purpose (which has already been described) might be accomplished. =
12 Thinking that the time had come to press the demand, which I had often laid before Sosibius
of Tarentum and Andreas, the chief of the bodyguard, for the emancipation of the Jews who had
been transported from Judea by the king’s father—for when by a combination of good fortune and
courage he had brought his attack on the whole district of Coele-Syria and Phoenicia to a successful

6. Isent you a record, This seems to bean attempt on the part of the author to identify himself with the historian
Aristeas, the writer of a book called Περὶ ᾿Ιουδαίων referred to in Eusebius, Praepar. Evang. ix.25. The fragment of
this Aristeas quoted by Eusebius is taken from the treatise of Alexander Polyhistor, who is dated c. 50 B.C. Aristeas
himself belongs probably to the second century B.c. If there is any reference to this Aristeas here, this date would
constitute a Zerminus a guo for our Epistle. It is quite possible, however, that the Author of the Epistle is
referring to another book written by himself which has been lost.

the most learned land, λογιωτώτην probably a textual corruption accidentally introduced from the following
| phrase λογιωτάτων ἀρχιερέων.

9. Demetrius of Phalerum. The facts known about Demetrius are as follows :—About the year 307 B.C. he was
driven out of Athens, where he had ruled for ten years as deputy for Cassander, by Demetrius the Besieger. He was
persuaded by Ptolemy I, who happened to be visiting Greece at the time, to migrate to Alexandria, where he was
afterwards associated with the Museum. At the end of the reign of Ptolemy I he fell into disfavour because he
5 2 Pager the king’s desire to make his youngest son Philadelphus successor to the throne, and advocated the claims
i the eldest son Keraunos, who possessed the right of primogeniture. As a result Demetrius was sent into exile and

died soon afterwards from the bite of an asp (c. 283 Β.0.). The fact and date of the exile seem to be substantiated by

the statements of Plutarch (de vil. p. 602), Diogenes Laertius (v. 78), and Cicero (fro Radir. Post. 9), which have

behind them the authority of Hermippus Callimachus, who lived under the third and fourth Ptolemies. The statements
_ of Aristeas must therefore be regarded as an anachronism, since Demetrius could not possibly have exercised any
_ influence over Philadelphus. Moreover, we know from the investigations of Busch (de éibliothecariis Alexandrinis,
Ν 1 ff.) that the office of librarian under Philadelphus was held first by Zenodotus of Ephesus and then by Erastosthenes,
Β it is possible, however, as Swete suggests, that the project of translating the Jewish law may have been mooted by
Demetrius in the time of Ptolemy I, though it was not carried out till the reign of his successor (see Swete, Jutrod. to
LXX, p.19; JQR, Jan. 1902, p. 338, Ostermann, de Demetrii Ph. vita (1857), Susemihl, Geschichte der griechischen
Litteratur in der Alexandrinerzeit 1, p. 6, 138).

lo, above two hundred thousand. Epiphanius gives the number of the books as 54,800 πλείω ἣ ἐλάσσω.

IL 5 a peculiar dialect, i.e. Aramaic,

12. attack on Coele-Syria. The reference is probably to Ptolemy I’s second campaign against Syria and
Palestine which culminated in the battle of Gaza (312 B.c.). The fragments of Hecataeus in Josephus (con. AZ. i. 186),
which though disputed are probably genuine, confirm the statements of Aristeas and may have been the source from

which they were taken. Hecataeus (see Note on § 31) says, ‘ Ptolemy got possession of many places in Syria after the
Η battle of Gaza, and many, when they heard of Ptolemy’s moderation and humanity, they went along with him to Egypt
and were willing to assist him in his affairs.’ The impression given by this fragment is that the action of Ptolemy's

army was much less drastic than is represented in Aristeas. The presence of large settlements of Jews in Egypt at
this time, though denied by Willrich, seems to be abundantly proved by the Papyri. A village named Samareia
‘in the Fayyum is mentioned more than once in the Petrie collection of Papyri. There was a Jewish colony at Psenuris
(cf. PP. 1. 43 παρα των Ἰουδαίων kat των Ἑλληνων, in which mention is also made of Jewish slaves). For further evidence
see Mahaffy, Ze Ptolemaic Dynasty, p. 93.

ee ea

THE LETTER OF ARISTEAS 12-20

Assue, in the process of terrorising the country into subjection, he transported some of his foes and

‘others he reduced to captivity. The number of those whom he transported from the country of the

τὸ Jews to Egypt amounted to no less than a hundred thousand. Of these he armed thirty thousand

picked men and settled them in garrisons in the country districts. (And even before this time large

numbers of Jews had come into Egypt with the Persian, and in an earlier period still others had

been sent fo Egypt to help Psammetichus in his campaign against the king of the Ethiopians. But

these were nothing like so numerous as the captives whom Ptolemy the son of Lagus transported.)

14 As I have already said Ptolemy picked out the best of these, the men who were in the prime of

‘life and distinguished for their courage, and armed them, but the great mass of the others, those

| who were too old or too young for this purpose, and the women too, he reduced to slavery, not

| that he wished to do this of his own free will, but he was compelled by his soldiers who claimed
| them as a reward for the services which they had rendered in war.

Having, as has already been stated, obtained an opportunity for securing their emancipation,

I addressed the king with the following arguments. ‘Let us not be so unreasonable as to allow

15 our deeds to give the lie to our words. Since the law which we wish not only to transcribe but
also to translate belongs to the whole Jewish race, what justification shall we be able to find for
our embassy while such vast numbers of them remain in a state of slavery in your kingdom? In
the perfection and wealth of your clemency release those who are held in such miserable bondage,
since as I have been at pains to discover, the God who gave them their law is the God who
maintains your kingdom. They worship the same God—the Lord and Creator of the Universe,
as all other men, as we ourselves, O king, though we call him by different names, such as Zeus or

16 Dis. This name was very appropriately bestowed upon him by our first ancestors, in order to
signify that He through whom all things are endowed with life and come into being, is necessarily
the ruler and lord of the Universe. Set all mankind an example of magnanimity by releasing
those who are held in bondage.’

17 After a brief interval, while I was offering up an earnest prayer to God that He would so dispose
the mind of the king that all the captives might be set at liberty—(for the human race, being
the creation of God, is swayed and influenced by Him, Therefore with many divers prayers I called
upon Him who ruleth the heart that ¢ie king might be constrained to grant my request. For I had

18 great hopes with regard to the salvation of the men since I was assured that God would grant a
fulfilment of my prayer. For when men from pure motives plan some action in the interest of
righteousness and the performance of noble deeds, Almighty God brings their efforts and purposes
to a successful issue)—zhe king raised his head and looking up at me with a cheerful countenance
asked, ‘ How many thousands do you think they will number?’ Andreas, who was standing near,

19 replied, ‘A little more than a hundred thousand.’ ‘It is a small boon indeed,’ said the king, ‘ that
Aristeas asks of us!’ Then Sosibius and some others who were present said, ‘ Yes, but it will be a fit
tribute to your magnanimity for you to offer the enfranchisement of these men as an act of devotion
to the supreme God. You have been greatly honoured by Almighty God and exalted above all your
forefathers in glory and it is only fitting that you should render to Him the greatest thankoffering
in your power.’ Extremely pleased with these arguments he gave orders that an addition should be

20 made to the wages of the soldiers by the amount of the redemption money, that twenty drachmae should
be paid τ the owners for every slave, that a public order should be issued and that registers of the
captives should be attached to it. He showed the greatest enthusiasm in the business, for it was God
who had brought our purpose to fulfilment in its entirety and constrained him to redeem not only those
who had come into Egypt with the army of his father but any who had come before that time

13. The Persian. The reference seems to be to Cambyses who conquered Egypt in 525 B.c. Wendland thinks that
this statement is due to a misunderstanding of Hecataeus who says, ‘the Persians formerly carried away many ten
thousands of our people to Babylon as also not a few ten thousands were removed after Alexander’s death into Egypt
and Phoenicia’. ‘

Psammetichus. We know from Herodotus (11. 151, fol.) that Psammetichus I (c. 671-617 B.C.) was the first
Egyptian king to employ Greek mercenaries and that Psammetichus II, who became king in 595 B.C., carried on
a campaign against the Aethiopians (Her. 11. 159-61), but we have no evidence to connect the Jewish people with
either. Wendland thinks the allusion a pure fiction.

16. Zeus or Dis. The two accusative forms of Ζεύς, viz. Ζῆνα and Δία, are here used, and it is difficult to translate them
as the nominative of the second form is obsolete. They are derived by Aristeas, as by the Stoics and Orphic writers,
from ζῆν (to live) and διά (through) respectively. Compare the statement of Aristobulus (quoted by Eusebius, Praep.
Evang. xiii. 12. 7) καθὼς δὲ δεῖ σεσημάγκαμεν περιαιροῦντες τὸν διὰ τῶν ποιημάτων Δία καὶ Ζῆνα. For a similar comparison
between Jehovah and Zeus see Diodor. Sic. i. 12. 2, who probably derived the idea from Hecataeus. .

18. I had great hopes, &c. This rendering follows the suggestion of Mendelssohn who supplies ray before
ἀνθρώπων. Otherwise we must translate with Thackeray, ‘I had a good hope in bringing forward a proposal
concerning the deliverance of men,’ The phrase προτιθέμενος λόγον may mean either ‘bringing forward a proposal’
or ‘ giving a reason to oneself ’—‘ assuring oneself’, 6

THE LETTER OF ARISTEAS 20-29

or had been subsequently brought into the kingdom. It was pointed out to him that the ransom

money would exceed four hundred talents.

21 I think it will be useful to insert a copy of the decree, for in this way the magnanimity of the
king, who was empowered by God to save such vast multitudes, will be made clearer and more
22 manifest. The decree of the king ran as follows: ‘All who served in the army of our father in}
the campaign against Syria and Phoenicia and in the attack upon the country of the Jews and became |
possessed of Jewish captives and brought them back to the city of Alexandria and the land of |
L£gypt or sold them to others—and in the same way any captives who were in our land before |
that time or were brought hither afterwards—all who possess such captives are required to set them |
at liberty at once, receiving twenty drachmae per head as ransom money. The soldiers will receive

23 this money as a gift added to their wages, the others from the king’s treasury. We think that it
was against our father’s will and against all propriety that they should have been made captives and |
that the devastation of their land and the transportation of the Jews to Egypt was an act of |
military wantonness. The spoil which fell to the soldiers on the field of battle was all the booty |

which they should have claimed. To reduce the people to slavery in addition was an act of

24 absolute injustice. Wherefore since it is acknowledged that we are accustomed to render justice to
all men and especially to those who are unfairly in a condition of servitude, and since we strive to

deal fairly with all men according to the demands of justice and piety, we have decreed, in reference

to the persons of the Jews who are in any condition of bondage in any part of our dominion, that (
those who possess them shall receive the stipulated sum of money and set them at liberty and that no |
man shall show any tardiness in discharging his obligations. Within three days after the publication |
of this decree, they must make lists of s/aves for the officers appointed to carry out our will,

25 and immediately produce the persons of the captives. For we consider that it will be advantageous
to us and to our affairs that the matter should be brought to a conclusion. Any one who likes may
give information about any who disobey the decree, on condition that if the man is proved guilty

; he will become his slave ; his property, however, will be handed over to the royal treasury.’

_ 26 When the decree was brought to be read over to the king for his approval, it contained all the

» other provisions except the phrase ‘any captives who were in the land before that time or were brought

᾿ hither afterwards,’ and in his magnanimity and the largeness of his heart the king inserted this

clause and gave orders that the grant of money required for the redemption should be deposited in
full with the paymasters of the forces and the royal bankers, and so the matter was decided and the

27 decree ratified within seven days. The grant for the redemption amounted to more than six
hundred and sixty talents; for many infants at the breast were emancipated together with their
mothers. When the question was raised whether the sum of twenty talents was to be paid for
these, the king ordered that it should be done, and thus he carried out his decision in the
most comprehensive way.

_ 28 When this had been done, he ordered Demetrius to draw up a memorial with regard to the
transcription of the Jewish books. For all affairs of state used to be carried out by means of
decrees and with the most painstaking accuracy by these Zgyptéan kings, and nothing was done in
a slipshod or haphazard fashion. And so I have inserted copies of the memorial and the letters,
the number of the presents sent and the nature of each, since every one of them excelled in

29 magnificence and technical skill. The following is a copy of the memorial. Zhe Memorial of

Demetrius to the great king. ‘Since you have given me instructions, O king, that the books which

are needed to complete your library should be collected together, and that those which are defective

should be repaired, I have devoted myself with the utmost care to the fulfilment of your wishes,

20. four hundred talents. In § 19 the number of captives is given asa ‘little more than 100,000’. The redemption

money at 20 drachmae a piece comes to 2,000,000 drachmae or 333% talents. Thus 66% talents are allowed for the

mption of the captives, whose release was provided for by the additional clause. The number was therefore

estimated at 20,000, making a total of 120,000 slaves to be emancipated. This estimate was greatly exceeded, see § 27.

27. six hundred and sixty talents. The estimate of 400 talents (ὗ 20) was found to be considerably below the

mark; 660 talents provided ransom for 198,000 captives. It is difficult to account for the additional 78,000. The

_ children could not possibly have reached that number. We must either assume that the mothers had been omitted in

the previous estimate or follow Wendland in supposing that Aristeas has grossly exaggerated the total. The estimate

of Josephus, i.e. 460 talents, is much more probable. This makes the total number of captives 138,000, and the number

of Ἄνσι βόε therefore 18,000, a much more reasonable figure. Possibly, however, the difference between the 460 of
Josephus and the 660 of Aristeas is due to a copyist’s blunder in the case of the latter.

» 28. used to be carried out. This phrase indicates that the Epistle belongs to a later date than the time of Ptolemy

t Philadelphus. Cp. also § 182. Graetz thinks that it proves that the Epistle was written after the fall of the Ptolemaic

29. which are defective. The Greek words iva... ra διαπεπτωκτότα τύχῃ τῆς προσηκούσης ἐπισκευῆς might mean ‘that
those which have been lost shall be duly replaced’ (Thackeray). The translation given above is supported by Gifford,
Eusebius, Praep. Evang. viii. 3.

Η 05-2 ὁ 97 : H

THE LETTER OF ARISTEAS 30-36

30 and I now have the following proposal to lay before you. The books of the law of the Jews (with
some few others) are absent from the library. They are written in the Hebrew characters and
language and have been carelessly interpreted, and do not represent the original text as I am

31 informed by those who know; for they have never had a king’s care to protect them. It is
necessary that these should be made accurate for your library since the law which they contain, in
as much as it is of divine origin, is full of wisdom and free from all blemish. For this reason
literary men and poets and the mass of historical writers have held aloof from referring to these
books and the men who have lived tand are livingt in accordance with them, because their

32 conception of life is so sacred and religious, as Hecataeus of Abdera says. If it please you, O king,
a letter shall be written to the High Priest in Jerusalem, asking him to send six elders out of every
tribe—men who have lived the noblest life and are most skilled in their law—that we may find out
the points in which the majority of them are in agreement, and so having obtained an accurate
translation may place it in a conspicuous place in a manner worthy of the work itself and your
purpose. May continual prosperity be yours!’

33 When this memorial had been presented, the king ordered a letter to be written to Eleazar on the
matter, giving also an account of the emancipation of the Yewish captives. And he gave fifty
talents weight of gold and seventy talents of silver and a large quantity of precious stones to make
bowls and vials and a table and libation cups. He also gave orders to those who had the custody
of his coffers to allow the artificers to make a selection of any materials they might require for the
purpose, and that a hundred talents in money should be sent to provide sacrifices for the temple and

34 for other needs. I shall give you a full account of the workmanship after I have set before you

_ copies of the letters. The letter of the king ran as follows :
35 ‘King Ptolemy sends greeting and salutation to the High Priest Eleazar. Since there are many

) Jews settled in our realm who were carried off from Jerusalem by the Persians at the time of their
36 power and many more who came with my father into Egypt as captives—large numbers of these he
| placed in the army and paid them higher wages than usual, and when he had proved the loyalty of
| their leaders he built fortresses and placed them in their charge that the native Egyptians might be

30. The books of the law. There is no article before ‘ books’ in the MSS., though most editors insert or supply

it. Thackeray omits and translates ‘ certain books of the Jewish law’.

carelessly interpreted. The exact force of σεσήμανται is uncertain. If we translate ‘ interpreted ’ it involves the
supposition that an earlier, though imperfect, translation of the law into Greek was in existence. This hypothesis
is supported by the statement of Aristobulus, διηρμήνευται δὲ πρὸ Δημητρίου ὑφ᾽ ἑτέρου [v. 1. δι᾿ ἑτέρων) πρὸ τῆς ᾿Αλεξάνδρου
καὶ Περσῶν ἐπικρατήσεως, τά τε κατὰ τὴν ἐξ Αἰγύπτου ἐξαγωγὴν τῶν ᾿Εβραίων τῶν ἡμετέρων πολιτῶν καὶ ἡ τῶν γεγονότων ἁπάντων
αὐτοῖς ἐπιφάνεια καὶ κράτησις τῆς χώρας καὶ τῆς ὅλης νομοθεσίας ἐπεξήγησις. (Swete, Introd. to LXX, 1, 2), cp. also the
reference to earlier and unreliable translations in ὃ 314. The term σεσήμανται need not, however, imply translation.
It may simply mean ‘ copied ’ or ‘committed to writing’ (cp. Plutarch, ora/. 204 Ἐ τὰ μὲν πρῶτα τῶν ὀνομάτων γράμμασιν
ἐσήμανεν), or as Diels suggests ‘ vocalized’.

31. have lived and tare livingt: τῶν κατ᾽ αὐτὰ πεπολιτευμένων καὶ πολιτευομένων ἀνδρῶν. Wendland and Thackeray
obelise the words καὶ πολιτευομένων as a later addition, since they are omitted in Eusebius and Josephus. The
nacre es given here of the absence of any reference to the Jewish Scriptures in Greek literature is further elaborated
in §§ 312-316.

are of Abdera lived in the time of Alexander the Great and Ptolemy I, and wrote a history of Egypt,
which probably contained many references to Jewish History. He is credited by Josephus (c. Aion. 22) with being
the author of a special history of the Jews, which most modern authorities regard as a later forgery, worked up from
the material obtained from the History of Egypt (see Schiirer, ii, 3, p. 302 5:7). Wendland holds that Aristeas
used not the later Pseudo-Hecataeus but the genuine ‘ History of Egypt’. His conclusion is based on numerous
resemblances which he finds between Aristeas and the statements of Didorus Siculus, who used Hecataeus as his main
authority in his first book. Whether the quotations in Josephus (c. 4f/on.) came from the genuine or the pseudo-
Hecataeus is more difficult to decide.

32. If it please you: ἐὰν οὖν φαίνηται, a later formula as Thackeray has shown by an examination of the Papyri
(JQR xv, 348). In the early Ptolemaic period we find the classical formula εἴ σοι δοκεῖ or ἐάν σοι δοκῇ in general use.
Between 252 B.C. and 163 B.C. ἐάν σοι φαίνηται is generally substituted for the earlier form. From 163 B.C. to 70 B.C.
the pronoun is generally omitted and the phrase is used as in Aristeas. There is no instance, however, of the
omission of the pronoun in the Papyri before 163 B.C. These facts seem to indicate that our book must be later
than this date.

in a conspicuous place. The meaning of the Greek θῶμεν εὐσήμως is uncertain. The rendering given above
is that of Thackeray and Gifford (Eusebius, Praep. Evang. viii. 3) and refers of course to the library at Alexandria,
though it is difficult to see why the idea is not conveyed in plainer terms. The words might mean ‘that we may place
it on record in seemly fashion’ or ‘make the meaning plain’.

continual prosperity, εὐτύχει, the regular salutation used by a subordinate to his superior, The formula for
addressing an equal or a subordinate is ἔρρωσο (see Mahaffy, Petrie Papyri, 1891, 80), which is the word used by
Ptolemy and Eleazar in their correspondence with each other, $§ 40, 46.

36. when he had proved the loyalty, &c.: ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τοὺς προόντας. This rendering is supported by Gifford,
Eusebius, Praep. Evang. viii. 3. Thackeray, however, takes τοὺς mpodyras to mean ‘those who were already in the
country ’—‘ in like manner from his confidence in those who were already in the country he placed under their charge’
[i.e. under the charge of the newly imported Jews], &c.

might be intimidated. The MSS. of Aristeas read ὅπως τὸ τῶν Αἰγυπτίων ἔθνος φόβον μὴ ἔχῃ, ‘that native Egyptians
might be free from fear.’ Both Josephus and Eusebius, however, omit μή, and most modern editors follow them.’

THE LETTER OF ARISTEAS 36-44

intimidated by them. And I, when I ascended the throne, adopted a kindly attitude towards all |
37 my subjects, and more particularly to those who were citizens of yours—I have set at liberty more |
than a hundred thousand captives, paying their owners the appropriate market price for them, and |
if ever evil has been done to your people through the passions of the mob, I have made them |
reparation. The motive which prompted my action has been the desire to act piously and render —
unto the supreme God a thankoffering for maintaining my kingdom in peace and great glory in all
the world. Moreover those of your people who were in the prime of life I have drafted into my |
army, and those who were fit to be attached to my person and worthy of the confidence of the
38 court, I have established in official positions. Now since I am anxious to show my gratitude to
these men and to the Jews throughout the world and to the generations yet to come, I have
determined that your law shall be translated from the Hebrew tongue which is in use amongst you
39 into the Greek language, that these books may be added to the other royal books in my library. It,
will be a kindness on your part and a reward for my zeal if you will select six elders from each of
your tribes, men of noble life and skilled in your law and able to interpret it, that 7 guestions of
dispute we may be able to discover the verdict in which the majority agree, for the investigation is
of the highest possible importance. I hope to win great renown by the accomplishment of this
40 work. I have sent Andreas, the chief of my bodyguard, and Aristeas—men whom I hold in high
esteem—to lay the matter before you and present you with a hundred talents of silver, the firstfruits
of my offering for the temple and the sacrifices and other religious rites. Ifyou will write to me
concerning your wishes in these matters, you will confer a great favour upon me and afford me
a new pledge of friendship, for all your wishes shall be carried out as speedily as possible. Farewell.’
41 Tothis letter Eleazar replied appropriately as follows: ‘ Eleazar the High priest sends greetings
to King Ptolemy his true friend. My highest wishes are for your welfare and the welfare of Queen
Arsinoe your sister and your children. I also am well. I have received your letter and am greatly
42 rejoiced by your purpose and your noble counsel. I summoned together the whole people and
read it to them that they might know of your devotion to our God. I showed them too the cups
which you sent, twenty of gold and thirty of silver, the five bowls and the table of dedication, and
the hundred talents of silver for the offering of the sacrifices and providing the things of which the
43 temple stands in need. These gifts were brought to me by Andreas, one of your most honoured
servants, and by Aristeas, both good men and true, distinguished by their learning, and worthy in
every way to be the representatives of your high principles and righteous purposes. These men
imparted to me your message and received from me an answer in agreement with your letter.
441 will consent to everything which is advantageous to you even though your request is very

40. Andreas chiefof the bodyguard. ᾿Ανδρέαν τῶν ἀρχισωματοφυλάκων. Strack has proved that the plural form of
ἀρχισωματοφύλαξ does not occur in the Papyri till 145 B.c. Jerome describes Aristeas as Ptolemaei ὑπερασπιστί ς

priately ’ (so too Gifford), cp. ai ἐνδεχόμεναι τιμωρίαι, Lycurg. 164. 38. The adverb, however, seems to be generally used
as the equivalent of ὅσον ἐνδέχεται, ‘as far as possible’, Wendland suggests ‘so far as he could write Greek’. Diels
would substitute ἐκδεχομένως = straightway. Josephus paraphrases ws ἐνὴν μάλιστα φιλοτίμως. Thackeray renders
*Eleazar wrote much as follows’.

Queen Arsinoe your sister. On the famous Mendes stele Arsinoe is described as ‘ the daughter, sister and great
wife of a king who loves him, the divine Arsinoe Philadelphos’. Arsinoe was the daughter of Ptolemy I. She was
first married about 301 B.C. to Lysimachus King of Thrace to whom she bore at least three children. After the death
of Lysimachus, who was killed at the battle of Korupedion 281 B.C., she married Ptolemy Keraunos her half-brother
who was endeavouring to secure the throne of Thrace. No sooner, however, had Keraunos got Arsinoe into his power
than he murdered her children whom he regarded as his rivals, and banished her to Samothrace. Arsinoe was not
content to remain quietly in exile but made her way to Egypt, where she succeeded in inducing Ptolemy Philadelphus
to abandon his wife, her namesake and stepdaughter Arsinoe I, and marry her instead. Arsinoe’s third marriage took
place about 278 B.c. With regard to this type of Marriage Mahaffy remarks ‘It is only in the researches of our own
day that the Egyptian dogmas and sentiment in this matter have been duly examined and it is now clear that far from
being a licence or an outrage, the marriage of full brother and sister was in the royal family of Egypt, the purest and
most excellent of all marriages and the highest security that the sacred blood of kings was not polluted by inferior
strains’ (7he Ptolemaic Dynasty, p.77). Compare the statement of Maspero. ‘ The marriage of brother and sister
was the marriage far excellence, and it contracted an unspeakable sanctity when this brother and sister were born of
parents who stood in the same relation’ (Amnuuire de PEcole des Hautes Etudes for 1896, p. 19, quoted by Mahaffy,
p- 77). From the time of her marriage to her death in 270 B.c. Arsinoe held the highest possible place in popular
esteem. ‘She became a great figure not only in the Egyptian but in the Hellenistic world. Of no other queen do we
find so many memorials in various parts of the Greek world.’ (Mahaffy, p. 76.)

your children, Ptolemy Philadelphus and Arsinoe II had no children of their own, and this statement is often

to be another instance of Aristeas’ mistakes. We know, however, that Arsinoe II adopted the children of her
lecessor and the reference may be to these. Compare the statement of Theocritus in the scholia on the Encomium
of Ptolemy II (Idyll. xviii) καὶ εἰσεποιήσατο αὐτῇ τοὺς ἐκ τῆς προτέρας ᾿Αρσινόης γεννηθέντας παῖδας" αὐτὴ yap ἡ ᾿Αρσινόη
Kvos ἀπέθανεν.
99 Η 2

(Praef. in Pent. xxviii, p. 181).
41. replied appropriately. There is some question as to the meaning of ἐνδεχομένως which I have rendered ‘appro-

THE LETTER OF ARISTEAS 44-57

unusual, For you have bestowed upon our citizens great and never to be forgotten benefits in many
45 (ways). Immediately therefore I offered sacrifices on behalf of you, your sister, your children, and
your friends, and all the people prayed that your plans might prosper continually, and that
Almighty God might preserve your kingdom in peace with honour, and that the translation of the
46 holy law might prove advantageous to you and be carried out successfully. In the presence of all
the people I selected six elders from each tribe, good men and true, and I have sent them to you
with a copy of our law. It will be a kindness, O righteous king, if you will give instruction that
as soon as the translation of the law is completed, the men shall be restored again to us in safety.
Farewell.’
41 The following are the names of the elders: Of the first tribe, Joseph, Ezekiah, Zachariah, John,
Ezekiah, Elisha. Of the second tribe, Judas, Simon, Samuel, Adaeus, Mattathias, Eschlemias. Of
48 the third tribe, Nehemiah, Joseph, Theodosius, Baseas, Ornias, Dakis. Of the fourth tribe,
Jonathan, Abraeus, Elisha, Ananias, Chabrias.... Of the fifth tribe, Isaac, Jacob, Jesus, Sab-
49 bataeus, Simon, Levi. Of the sixth tribe, Judas, Joseph, Simon, Zacharias, Samuel, Selemias. Of
the seventh tribe, Sabbataeus, Zedekiah, Jacob, Isaac, Jesias, Natthaeus. Of the eighth tribe,
Theodosius, Jason, Jesus, Theodotus, John, Jonathan. Of,the ninth tribe, Theophilus, Abraham,
50 Arsamos, Jason, Endemias, Daniel. Of the tenth tribe, Jeremiah, Eleazar, Zachariah, Baneas,
Elisha, Dathaeus. Of the eleventh tribe, Samuel, Joseph, Judas, Jonathes, Chabu, Dositheus. Of
the twelfth tribe, Isaelus, John, Theodosius, Arsamos, Abietes, Ezekiel. They were seventy-two in
all. Such was the answer which Eleazar and his friends gave to the king’s letter.
51 I will now proceed to redeem my promise and give a description of the works of art. They were
wrought with exceptional skill, for the king spared no expense and personally superintended the
workmen individually. They could not therefore scamp any part of the work or finish it off negli-
52 gently. First of all I will give you a description of the table. The king was anxious that this piece
of work should be of exceptionally large dimensions, and he caused enquiries to be made of the Jews
53 in the locality with regard to the size of the table already in the temple at Jerusalem. And when
they described the measurements, he proceeded to ask whether he might make a larger structure.
And some of the priests and the other Jews replied that there was nothing to prevent him. And he
said that he was anxious to make it five times the size, but he hesitated lest it should prove useless
54 for the temple services. He was desirous that his gift should not merely be stationed in the temple,
for it would afford him much greater pleasure if the men whose duty it was to offer the fitting
55 sacrifices were able to do so appropriately on the table which he had made. He did not suppose
that it was owing to lack of gold that the former table had been made of small size, but there seems
to have been, he said, some reason why it was made of this dimension. }For had the order been given,
there would have been no lack of means}. Wherefore we must not transgress or go beyond the proper -
measure. At the same time he ordered them to press into service all the manifold forms of art, for
he was a man of the most lofty conceptions and nature had endowed him with a keen imagination
which enabled him to picture the appearance which would be presented dy the finished work. He
gave orders too, that where there were no instructions laid down in the ¥ewzsh Scriptures, everything
should be made as beautiful as possible. When such instructions were laid down, they were to be
carried out to the letter.

They made the table two cubits long (one cubit broad) one and a half cubits high, fashioning it of

τι
a

σι
~

44. unusual, lit. contrary to nature, rapa φύσιν. The translation of the Jewish law into a foreign language was

regarded as contrary to nature.
in many ways. In the MSS. of Aristeas we read simply κατὰ πολλούς. Eusebius, however, adds τρόπους, which is
the justification for the translation given above.

45. friends, a special court title, which came into prominence in the time of Ptolemy V. (205-182 B.c.). It occurs
frequently on the Papyri of this period but is not found at an earlier date, though Strack thinks it may have occurred
in some of the /acunae of the Papyri of Ptolemy IV (222-205 B.C.). We seem to have here another anachronism
(Mahaffy, Ptolemaic Dynasty, p. 161), though as the title is apparently used in the O.T. (1 Kings, iv. 5) too much ὦ
stress must not be laid upon this point.

48. The fifth and sixth names of the fourth tribe are given by Epiphanius, who uses Aristeas in his De mens. et pond.
as Zacharias and Chelkias. Probably the Chabrias of Aristeas is a corruption.

50. For Chabu (Χαβεῦ) Epiphanius reads Caleb, which seems obviously to be correct.

55. had the order been given: the text is corrupt at this point. The MSS. read ἔτι yap ἐπὶ ra τῆς οὔσης, οὐθὲν ἂν
ἐσπάνιζε. This is difficult to translate, though it might perhaps be rendered ‘ Nothing would have been lacking for the
present table’. It is better, however, to accept Mendelssohn’s brilliant conjecture and substitute ἐπιταγῆς for ἐπὶ τὰ τῆς.

56. picture the appearance, εἰς τὸ συνιδεῖν πραγμάτων ἔμφασιν. This might also mean ‘ To design the appearance
of objects’. The interest which Philadelphus took in art and architecture is well attested.

in the scriptures: the reference is to the instructions laid down in Exodus, xxv. 23, 24. The technical term for
Scripture (ἡ γραφή) does not occur here—though it is found in §§ 155, 168. The phrases used here are ὅσα δ᾽ ἂν ἣ
ἄγραφα, ... ὅσα δὲ διὰ γραπτῶν, see note on § τόδ.

57. one cubit broad: these words are not in the MSS. of Aristeas but are found in Josephus and in Exodus xxv, 23.
Wendland thinks that their omission here is purely accidental.

Ioo

THE LETTER OF ARISTEAS 57-65

pure solid gold. What Iam describing was not thin gold laid over another foundation, but the whole
58 structure was of massive gold welded together. And they made a border of a hand’s breadth round
about it. And there was a wreath of wave-work, engraved in relief in the form of ropes marvellously
59 wrought on its three sides. For it was triangular in shape and the style of the work was exactly
the same on each of the sides, so that whichever side they were turned, they presented the same
appearance. +Of the two sides under the border, the one which sloped down to the table was a very
60 beautiful piece of work, but it was the outer side which attracted the gaze of the spectatort. Now the
upper edge of the two sides, being elevated, was sharp since, as we have said, ¢he rim was three-sided,
+ from whatever point of view one approached itt. And there were layers of precious stones on it in the
midst of the embossed cord-work, and they were interwoven with one another by an inimitable artistic
61 device. For the sake of security they were all fixed by golden needles which were inserted in perfora-
62 tions iz the stones. At the sides they were clamped together by fastenings to hold them firm. On the
part of the border round the table which slanted upwards and met the eyes, there was wrought a pattern
of eggs in precious stones, telaborately engraved{ by a continuous piece of fluted relief-work, closely
63 connected together round the whole table. And under the stones which had been arranged to repre-
sent eggs the artists made a crown containing all kinds of fruits, having at its top clusters of grapes
and ears of corn, dates also and apples, and pomegranates and the like, conspicuously arranged.
These fruits were wrought out of precious stones, of the same colour as the fruits themselves and
64 they fastened them edgeways round all the sides of the table with a band of gold. And after the
crown of fruit had been put on, wxderneath there was inserted another pattern of eggs in precious
stones, and other fluting and embossed work, that both sides of the table might be used, according
to the wishes of the owners and for this reason the wave-work and the border were extended
65 down to the feet of the table. They made and fastened under the whole width of the table
a massive plate four fingers thick, that the feet might be inserted into it, and clamped fast with
linch-pins which fitted into sockets under the border, so that which ever side of the table people
preferred, might be used. Thus it became manifestly clear that the work was intended to be used

massive gold welded together: lit. the plate of beaten metal was attached to it.
58. They made a border. The description of the table is an elaboration of the data in Exod. xxv. 23: ‘ Thou shalt
make a table of acacia wood: two cubits shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and
a half the height thereof. And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold and make thereto a crown of gold round about.
And thou shalt make a border of an handbreadth round about and thou shalt make a golden crown to the border thereof
round about’, In the LXX as in Aristeas there is no mention of the foundation of acacia wood. The whole table is
to be made χρυσῆν χρυσίου καθαροῦ. The use of the LXX phrase στρεπτὰ κυμάτια is also significant. Either we have an
anachronism. The table is supposed to be made according to the specifications of the LXX text which did not as yet
exist. Or else the LXX translation was influenced by the table of Philadelphus, and the differences between“it and
the Hebrew were introduced to bring the new table more into accord with Scripture.
There is considerable difficulty with regard to the exact significance of the word translated border (11, στεφάνη,
κυμάτια στρεπτά). AV and RV render by ‘crown’, RV πὶ. by ‘rim or moulding’. The phrase κυμάτια στρεπτά suggests
a cable moulding—and this is the interpretation which Aristeas puts upon it; (so also Josephus, τὸ ἔδαφος ἕλικος, a spiral).
On the other hand ‘ the same phrase is used in architecture to denote an ogee moulding, and this is certainly the nature
of the ornament on the table of the Arch of Titus. In any case both the sides and the ends of the massive top were
separately decorated by a solid gold moulding which gave them the appearance of four panels sunk into the table’,
DBH iv. 663.
wreath of wavework: the meaning of this phrase, and indeed of the whole sentence, is very dubious.
Thackeray translates ‘They made .. . its ledges of twisted work’ but suggests that the phrase may mean ‘its
mouldings (or rims) were made so as to revolve’.

$2. It was triangular, ἦν γὰρ τριγωνία. :This cannot refer to the table, which had four legs and must have been
oblong in shape. If the text is correct, it must refer to the border. Thackeray suggests that we ought to follow
Josephus in reading τρίγωνα and translate ‘ the ledges were triangular in shape’.

whichever side they were turned: the meaning is very obscure. The words might be translated ‘to which-
ever side a man turned himself, the same appearance met his eyes’ (Wendland).

Of the two sides, &c. The text of this sentence is so corrupt that its meaning cannot be made out. I have
followed the conjecture which substitutes κειμένω, for the κειμένου or κειμένης of the MSS. at the commencement of the
sentence. Thackeray translates ‘and while the ledge rested on the border that side of it which sloped towards the
table was beautifully worked although the side which sloped outwards [alone] met the eye of the spectator’. Wendland
renders ‘Wahrend aber die nach dem Tische gerichtete Seite der auf dem Rand aufliegenden [Leiste] ihre schéne
Arbeit dem Anblick entzog, bot sich die aussere Seite den Blicken des Beschauers dar’. ;

62. elaborately engraved : the text ἐκτύπωσιν ἔχουσα προσοχῆς is corrupt and we can only conjecture its meaning.
63. These fruits were wrought, lit. ‘ They worked the stones which had the colour of each species of the aforesaid
fruits to resemble those fruits’.

with a band of gold, or ‘ they attached them to the gold all round the table’ (Thackeray). ;
64. according to the wishes. We must follow Wendland and read aipévra for aipwvra here and in the following
section.
the wave work, &c. Thackeray translates this sentence ‘with such symmetry that the ledges and the border

an on the side nearest the feet’. ᾿ με

5. Thus it became, &c. The meaning of the Greek is obscure. Thackeray renders ‘ This metal plate was visible
on the surface as the work was constructed so as to be reversible’.

IOI

THE LETTER OF ARISTEAS 66-82

66 either way. On the table itself they engraved a ‘maeander’, having precious stones standing out in
the middle of it, rubies and emeralds and an onyx too and many other kinds of stones which excel

67 in beauty. And next to the ‘ maeander’ there was placed a wonderful piece of network, which made
the centre of the table appear like a rhomboid in shape, and on it a crystal and amber, as it is called,

68 had been wrought, which produced an incomparable impression on the beholders. They made the
feet of the table with heads like lilies, so that they seemed to be like lilies bending down beneath the

69 table, and the parts which were visible represented leaves which stood upright. The basis of the foot
on the ground consisted of a ruby and measured a hand’s breadth Azgh all round. It had the
appearance of a shoe and was eight fingers broad. Upon it the whole expanse of the foot rested.

70 And they made the foot appear like ivy growing out of the stone, interwoven with akanthus and
surrounded with a vine which encircled it with clusters of grapes, which were worked in stones, up to
the top of the foot. All the four feet were made in the same style, and everything was wrought and
fitted so skilfully, and such remarkable skill and knowledge were expended upon making it true to
nature, that when the air was stirred by a breath of wind, movement was imparted to the leaves, and

71 everything was fashioned to correspond with the actual reality which tt represented. And they made
the top of the table in three parts like a triptychon, and they were so fitted and dovetailed together
with spigots along the whole breadth of the work, that the meeting of the joints could not be seen
or even discovered. The thickness of the table was not less than half a cubit, so that the whole work

72 must have cost many talents. For since the king did not wish to add to its size he expended on the
details the same sum of money which would have been required if the table could have been of
larger dimensions. And everything was completed in accordance with his plan, in a most wonderful
and remarkable way, with inimitable art and incomparable beauty.

73. Ofthe mixing bowls, two were wrought (in gold), and from the base to the middle were engraved
with relief work in the pattern of scales, and between the scales precious stones were inserted with

74 great artistic skill. Then there was a ‘ maeander’ a cubit in height, with its surface wrought out of
precious stones of many colours, displaying great artistic effort and beauty. Upon this there was a
mosaic, worked in the form of a rhombus, having a net-like appearance and reaching right up to the

75 brim. In the middle, small shields which were made of different precious stones, placed alternately,
and varying in kind, not less than four fingers broad, enhanced the beauty of their appearance. On
the top of the brim there was an ornament of lilies in bloom, and intertwining clusters of grapes were

76 engraven all round. Such then was the construction of the golden bowls, and they held more than
two firkins each. The silver bowls had a smooth surface, and were wonderfully made as if they were
intended for looking-glasses, so that everything which was brought near to them was reflected even more

77 Clearly than in mirrors. But it is impossible to describe the real impression which these works of
art produced upon the mind when they were finished. For, when these vessels had been completed
and placed side by side, first a silver bow] and then a golden, then another silver, and then another
golden, the appearance they presented is altogether indescribable, and those who came to see

78 them were not able to tear themselves from the brilliant sight and entrancing spectacle. The
impressions produced by the spectacle were various in kind. When men looked at the golden vessels,
and their minds made a complete survey of each detail of workmanship, their souls were thrilled with
wonder. Again when a man wished to direct his gaze to the silver vessels, as they stood before him,
everything seemed to flash with light round about the place where he was standing, and afforded a
still greater delight to the onlookers. So that it is really impossible to describe the artistic beauty
of the works.

79 The golden vials they engraved in the centre with vine wreaths. And about the rims they
wove a wreath of ivy and myrtle and olive in relief work and inserted precious stones init. The other
parts of the relief work they wrought in different patterns, since they made it a point of honour to

8o complete everything in a way worthy of the majesty of the king. In a word it may be said that
neither in the king’s treasury nor in any other, were there any works which equalled these in costliness
or in artistic skill. For the king spent no little thought upon them, for he loved to gain glory for the

81 excellence of his designs. For oftentimes he would neglect his official business, and spend his time
with the artists in his anxiety that they should complete everything in a manner worthy of the place
to which the gifts were to be sent. So everything was carried out on a grand scale, in a manner

82 worthy of the king who sent the gifts and of the high priest who was the ruler of the land. There was
no stint of precious stones, for not less than five thousand were used and they were all of large size.

69. the whole expanse of the foot, lit. ‘the whole plate of the foot’. Thackeray renders ‘upon this rested the
whole plate into which the leg was inserted ’.
γι. fitted and dovetailed, lit. ‘being fitted together by dove-tailing which was secured by pegs in the thickness of
the structure’ (Thackeray).
74. with its surface: we must read here with Wendland ἐν ὑπεροχῇ for ἐνυπῆρχε.
102

᾿:
*
»

THE LETTER OF ARISTEAS 82-93

The most exceptional artistic skill was employed, so that the cost of the stones and the workmanship

was five times as much as that of the gold.

83 I have given you this description of the presents because I thought it was necessary. The next
point in the narrative is an account of our journey to Eleazar, but I will first of all give you a
description of the whole country. When we arrived in the land of the Jews we saw the city situated

84 in the middle of the whole of Judea on the top of a mountain of considerable altitude. On the summit
the temple had been built in all its splendour. It was surrounded by three walls more than seventy
cubits high and in length and breadth corresponding to the structure of the edifice. All the buildings

85 were characterised by a magnificence and costliness quite unprecedented. It was obvious that no
expense had been spared on the door and the fastenings, which connected it with the door-posts, and

86 the stability of the lintel. The style of the curtain too was thoroughly in proportion to that of the
entrance. Its fabric owing to the draught of wind was in perpetual motion, and as this motion was
communicated from the bottom and the curtain bulged out to its highest extent, it afforded a pleasant

87 spectacle from which a man could scarcely tear himself away. The construction of the altar was in
keeping with the place itself and with the burnt offerings which were consumed by fire upon it, and
the approach to it wason a similar scale. There was a gradual slope up to it, conveniently arranged
for the purpose of decency, and the ministering priests were robed in linen garments, down to their

88 ankles. The Temple faces the east and its back is toward the west. The whole of the floor is paved
with stones and slopes down to the appointed places, that water may be conveyed to wash away the

89 blood from the sacrifices, for many thousand beasts are sacrificed there on the feast days. And there is
an inexhaustible supply of water, because an abundant natural spring gushes up from within the temple
area. There are moreover wonderful and indescribable cisterns underground, as they pointed out to
me, at a distance of five furlongs all round the site of the temple, and each of them has countless pipes

90 so that the different streams converge together. And all these were fastened with lead at the bottom
and at the sidewalls, and over them a great quantity of plaster had been spread, and every part
of the work had been most carefully carried out. There are many openings for water at the base of
the altar which are invisible to all except to those who are engaged in the ministration, so that all
the blood of the sacrifices which is collected in great quantities is washed away in the twinkling of an

gteye. Such is my opinion with regard to the character of the reservoirs and I will now show you how
it was confirmed. They led me more than four furlongs outside the city and bade me peer down
towards a certain spct and listen to the noise that was made by the meeting of the waters, so that
the great size of the reservoirs became manifest to me, as has already been pointed out.

92 The ministration of the priests is in every way unsurpassed both for its physical endurance and for
its orderly and silent service. For they all work spontaneously, though it entails much painful
exertion, and each one has a special task allotted tohim. The service is carried on without interrup-
tion—some provide the wood, others the oil, others the fine wheat flour, others the spices; others

93 again bring the pieces of flesh for the burnt offering, exhibiting a wonderful degree of strength. For
they take up with both hands the limbs of a calf, each of them weighing more than two talents, and
throw them with each hand in a wonderful way on to the high place of ¢he altar and never miss
placing them on the proper spot. In the same way the pieces of the sheep and also of the goats
are wonderful both for their weight and their fatness. For those, whose business it is, always select
the beasts which are without blemish and specially fat, and thus the sacrifice which I have described,

83. In the land of the Jews. Text corrupt.
86. in proportion to that of the entrance. Reading θυμῶσι. Thackeray prefers the reading θυρώσει and
translates ‘ The fashion of the curtain bore a very close resemblance to a door’.
the curtain bulged out. The text is uncertain and the meaning obscure. The MSS. read κατὰ τὴν κόλπωσιν μέχρι
τῆς ἄνω διατάσεως. Schmidt conjectures κατατείνειν for kara. Thackeray renders ‘the swell extended to the upper and
tauter part of the curtain’.
87. was in keeping. Following the conjecture of Mendelssohn συμμέτρως ἔχουσαν.
in linen garments. Βυσσίνοις χιτῶσιν, quoted from LXX of Ex. xxxvi. 35. See note ὃ 228.
89. an abundant natural spring. This statement is supported by Tacitus, who speaks of a ‘ fons perennis aquae’
(isi. v. 12). There are objections, however, to the statement : (a) No trace of such a well has been discovered, (6) the
stem of aqueducts which brought water from a distance would have been unnecessary if such a spring had existed.
These ‘two facts or rather our fresent evidence for them are sufficient to make very doubtful the existence of
a fountain within the Temple enceinée’, ἃ. A. Smith, Jerusalem, i. 85, 86.
wonderful... cisterns. Some thirty-six or thirty-seven of these remarkable reservoirs have been discovered
and surveyed. Full lists and descriptions are given in Recovery of Jerus. 204ff.; P. E. Εν Mem. ‘Jerus.’ 217 ff. ;
P. E. F. 2. 1880; Schick, Stiftshiitte u. Tempel, 292 ff. Speaking of their general characteristics, G. A. Smith,
Jerusalem, i. 120, says: ‘They may be distinguished into the smaller surface pits arched over, and probably not all
originally cisterns; and the great deep basins hollowed out of the low-lying me/eki rock, 30, 40, 50, and 60 feet deep
(one of them ‘ the Great Sea’ with a capacity of two million gallons) carefully cemented ; their roofs of the harder upper
mizzeh rock, occasionally supported by heavy piers of masonry; with channels of communication, passages for
inspection and conduits for draining the water at different levels.’
go. fastened with lead, or ‘ had their bases and sides of lead’.

103

95 the sacrifices. The most complete silence reigns so that one might imagine that there was not a single

1oo

"“

102

THE LETTER OF ARISTEAS 94-102

is carried out. There is a special place set apart for them to rest in, where those who are relieved
from duty sit. When this takes place, those who have already rested and are ready 20 resume their
duties rise up spontancously since there is no one to give orders with regard to the arrangement of

person present, though there are actually seven hundred men engaged in the work, besides the vast
number of those who are occupied in bringing up the sacrifices. Everything is carried out with
reverence and in a way worthy of the great God.

We were greatly astonished, when we saw Eleazar engaged in the ministration, at the mode of his
dress, and the majesty of his appearance, which was revealed in the robe which he wore and the
precious stones upon his person. There were golden bells wpon the garment which reached down to
his feet, giving forth a peculiar kind of melody, and on both sides of them there were pomegranates
with variegated flowers of a wonderful hue. He was girded with a girdle of conspicuous beauty,
woven in the most beautiful colours. On his breast he wore the oracle of God, as it is called, on which
twelve stones, of different kinds, were inset, fastened together with gold, containing the names of the
leaders of the tribes, according to their original order, each one flashing forth in an indescribable way
its own particular colour. On his head he wore a tiara, as it is called, and upon this in the middle of
his forehead an inimitable turban, the royal diadem full of glory with the name of God inscribed in
sacred letters on a plate of gold . . . having been judged worthy to wear these emblems in the
ministrations. Their appearance created such awe and confusion of mind as to make one feel that one
had come into the presence of a man who belonged to a different world. I am convinced that any
one who takes part in the spectacle which I have described will be filled with astonishment and
indescribable wonder and be profoundly affected in his mind at the thought of the sanctity which ~

is attached to each detail of the service.
But in order that we might gain complete information, we ascended to the summit of the neighbour-

ing citadel and looked around us. It is situated in a very lofty spot, and is fortified with many towers,
which have been built up to the very top of immense stones, with the object, as we were informed, of
guarding the temple precincts, so that if there were an attack, or an insurrection or an onslaught of
the enemy, no one would be able to force an entrance within the walls that surround the temple. On the
towers of the citadel engines of war were placed and different kinds of machines, and the position was
much higher than the circle of walls which I have mentioned. The towers were guarded too by most

95. seven hundred. This number is at variance with the estimate given in the passage from Hecataeus which is
quoted by Josephus c. Apion. i. 22: ‘ All the Jewish priests who are in receipt of the tithe of the produce [of the soil]
and administer the public moneys [or affairs] are at the most fifteen hundred’. Josephus states that there were four
tribes of priests, each containing more than five thousand (c. Afion. ii. 8) but probably he includes the Levites and the
servants.

96-9. The description of the dress of the High-priest is based upon Exodus xxviii and xxix. For other accounts
of this dress see Charles’ Zestaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, ET, p. 42. Many phrases are taken from the LXX,
showing that the writer must have been perfectly familiar with the version. For further illustrations of the use of
the LXX see §§ 56, 57, 87, 228.

97. the oracle of God. Exod. xxviii. 30 reads: ‘ Thou shalt put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the
Thummim’—which the LXX renders καὶ ἐπιθήσεις ἐπὶ τὸ λόγιον τῆς κρίσεως τὴν δήλωσιν καὶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν. This mistaken
rendering (which is followed by Aristeas) is mainly responsible for the view that the Urim and Thummim are to be
identified with the jewels in the breastplate, see DBH, iv. 839. We have here another proof that the LXX translation
had superseded, in the mind of Aristeas, the Hebrew original before our Epistle was written.

98. sacred letters—i.e. the older Hebrew characters such as are found on old Hebrew seals, the Moabite Stone,
and 5 Phoenician inscriptions before they had changed into the later square characters. Driver, Exodus (Cam. Bib.,
P- 309).

99. Their appearance. Following an emendation of Wendland, who reads ἐμφάνεια for συμφάνεια. 3

100. the summit of the neighbouring citadel. There are many problems connected with the site and the
history of the ἄκρα. ‘Theories of the position of the Akra are almost as numerous as the writers who have devoted
attention to the subject’ (for a discussion of the various views see G. A. Smith, Jerusalem, ii. 444 ff). The earliest
reference to the ἄκρα is found in Josephus, who says that it was occupied by an Egyptian garrison when in 198 B.C. the
Jews welcomed Antiochus the Great to Jerusalem. In 168 B.C. the forces of Antiochus Epiphanes ‘ fortified the City
of David witha great and strong wall, with strong towers, and it became unto them an ἄκρα or citadel’ (1 Mac. i. 33-6).
‘It became a great trap, an ambush against the Sanctuary and throughout an evil adversary to Israel’ (1 Mac. iv. 40).
For further references it the Maccabean period see G. Adam Smith, Jerusalem, i. 157 f. Josephus, however, tells us
that during the Maccabean war the Jews razed the ἄκρα to the ground. (B/, ii. 2, iv. 1, Amdé. xiii. 6.7) In the
passages in the An¢iguities he states that Simon, anxious ‘ that the Akra should no more be a base from which the foe
might storm or harass Jerusalem, thought it the best way to cut down also the hill on which the Akra stood, so that
the temple should be higher. Having called the people to an assembly, he persuaded them to set themselves to the
work, which cost them three whole years, night and day, before they reduced the hill to its base and made it a perfect
level. Thereafter the temple overtopped everything, both the Akra and the hill on which it stood being demolished.’
This statement, however, is difficult to reconcile with the assertion of 1 Mac. xiv. 37 that ‘Simon garrisoned and
fortified the Akra.’ If the assertion of Josephus could be relied upon, it would suggest a point which would have to be
considered in discussing the date of Aristeas. There. is a further difficulty, however. Possibly, as G. Adam Smith
suggests (ib. ii. 447) Aristeas is referring not to the Akra but to the later Baris. Graetz thinks that the description of
the Castle points to the tower of Antonia built by Herod the Great (of. cit. 295-6).

104

ἘΠΕῚ ‘LETTER OF “ARISTEAS. 102-112

trusty men who had given the utmost proof of their loyalty to their country. These men were never
allowed to leave the citadel, except on feast days and then only in detachments, nor did they permit any
03 stranger to enterit. They were also very careful when any command came from the chief officer to
admit any visitors to inspect the place, as our own experience taught us. They were very reluctant
104 to admit us,—though we were but two unarmed men—to view the offering of the sacrifices. And
they asserted that they were bound by an oath when the trust was committed to them, for they had all
sworn and were bound to carry out the oath sacredly to the letter, that though they were five hundred
in number they would not permit more than five men to enter at one time. The citadel was the
special protection of the temple and its founder had fortified it so strongly that it might efficiently
protect it.
105 + The size of the city is of moderate dimensions. It is about forty furlongs in circumference, as
far as one could conjecture. It has its towers arranged in the shape of a theatre, with thoroughfares
leading between them} now the cross roads of the lower towers are visible but those of the upper
106 towers are more frequented+. For the ground ascends, since the city is built upon a mountain.
A There are steps too which lead up to the cross roads, and tsome people are always going up, and
‘others down and they keep as far apart from each other as possible on the road} because of those who
ΤΟΥ are bound by the rules of purity, lest they should touch anything which is unlawful. It was not with-
out reason that: the original founders of the city built it in due proportions, for they possessed clear
insight with regard to what was required. For the country is extensive and beautiful. Some parts
: of it are level, especially the districts which belong to Samaria, as it is called, and which border on
the land of the Idumeans, other parts are mountainous, especially (those which are contiguous to
᾿ the land of Judea). The people therefore are bound to devote themselves to agriculture and the
ἢ cultivation of the soil that by this means they may have a plentiful supply of crops. In this way
108 cultivation of every kind is carried on and an abundant harvest reaped in the whole of the aforesaid
_ land. The cities which are large and enjoy a corresponding prosperity are well-populated, but they
neglect the country districts, since all men are inclined to a life of enjoyment, for every one has
_ 109 a natural tendency towards the pursuit of pleasure. The same thing happened in Alexandria, which
____ excels all cities in size and prosperity. Country people by migrating from the rural districts and settling
110 in the city brought agriculture into disrepute: and so to prevent them from settling zx the city, the
king issued orders that they should not stay in it for more than twenty days. And in the same way
he gave the judges written instructions, that if it was necessary to issue a summons against any one
311 who lived in the country, the case must be settled within five days. And since he considered the
___' matter one of great importance, he appointed also legal officers for every district with their assistants,
_ that the farmers and their advocates might not in the interests of business empty the granaries of the
112 city, I mean, of the produce of husbandry. I have permitted this digression because it was Eleazar
a who pointed out with great clearness the points which have been mentioned. For great is the energy

104. And were ...tocarry out. So Thackeray emends.

105. forty furlongs. This estimate agrees with the statement of Timochares (quoted by Euseb. Praep. Evang. ix.
34), but Hecataeus states that the circuit was about ‘fifty furlongs’ (quoted by Josephus, c. Afzon. i. 197).

in the shape of a theatre, ‘ with the comparison to a theatre,’ cf. Ecy. Bid. ii. 2412. ‘ There is, however, a second
affluent or head of the central Tyropoeon valley on the west side of its main course—a kind of dell or ¢heatre-shaped
depression extending westwards, a depression which would face a spectator looking westwards from the temple-mount,
where the writer of our letter professes to be standing’ (Thackeray, 70 Κὶ, xv. 360).

now the cross roads. The text is uncertain and the meaning obscure. The MSS. read καὶ φαινομένων διόδων
τῶν ὑποκειμένων, τῶν δ᾽ ἐπάνωθεν ἠθισμένων, but it seems impossible to extract any relevant meaning from the words as
they stand. In the phrase τῶν δ᾽ ἐπάνωθεν εἰθισμένων Thackeray reads εἰθισμένως and translates ‘the resemblance
extending to the cross streets, which are seen some below, some above, in the usual manner [of a theatre]’.. Wendland
following a conjecture of Diels substitutes μή for καί at the commencement of the sentence, and ἐσχισμένων for ἠθισμένων
and renders ‘und man sieht zwar nicht die Durchgange der unteren [Tiirme], wohl aber die der oberen, die bei den
Durchgangen durchbrochen sind.’

106. the ground ascends, ἀνάκλασιν yap τὰ τῶν τόπων. Thackeray translates ‘the ground is irregular’ and takes
ἀνάκλασιν to mean ‘a bending back’. He quotes in illustration a statement from Smith’s DZ 1, ii, 1587: ‘the northern
and southern outliers of the Mount of Olives end round slightly towards the city,

some...are... going up.j The meaning is obscure. Thackeray translates : ‘Some persons take their way along the
higher level, and others underneath, the distinction in the means of journeying being chiefly made for the sake of those
who are undergoing the usual purifications’, Wendland substitutes διεστηκυίας for διεστηκότες. ‘They ascend by the
one, they descend by the other, especially if they have a long journey to make, with a view to observing’, &c.

107. contiguous to the land of Judea. These words are supplied by conjecture to fill a /acwna in the MSS.
Wendland’s reading, ‘ namely those which are in the centre’, is possibly more correct.

108, a natural tendency. For a further explanation of this inherent bias in human nature, see δὲ 222-3, and
especially 277.

111. farmers and their advocates. The meaning of the latter term (προστάται) is uncertain. Thackeray
translates ‘ directors or agents’, but suggests that we might render ‘the agricultural class who are also the protectors
(backbone) of the country. Legislation in the interests of agriculture is illustrated in the Papyri (cf. Paris Papyri,
no. 63, Notices et Extraits, tom. xviii, Letronne and Brunet, and Thackeray’s Note, 70 1), p. 361).

105

THE LETTER OF ARISTEAS ‘112-124

which they expend on the tillage of the soil. For the land is thickly planted with multitudes of
olive trees, with crops of corn and pulse, with vines too, and there is abundance of honey. Other
kinds. of fruit trees and dates do not count compared with these. There are cattle of all kinds in
113 great quantities and a rich pasturage for them. Wherefore they rightly recognise that the country
districts need a large population, and the relations between the city and the villages are properly
114 regulated. A great quantity of spices and precious stones and gold is brought into the country by
the Arabs. For the country is well adapted not only for agriculture but also for commerce, and the
115 city is rich in the arts and lacks none of the merchandise which is brought across the sea. It
possesses too suitable and commodious harbours at Askalon, Joppa, and Gaza, as well as at
Ptolemais which was founded by the King and holds a central position compared with the other
places named, being not far distant from any ofthem. The country produces everything in abundance,
116 since it is well watered in all directions and well protected from storms. The river Jordan, as it is
called, which never runs dry, flows through theJand. Originally (the country) contained not less than
60 million acres—though afterwards the neighbouring peoples made incursions against it—and 600,000
men were settled upon it in farms of a hundred acres each. The river like the Nile rises in harvest-
time and irrigates a large portion of the land. Near the district belonging to the people of
117 Ptolemais it issues into another river and this flows out into the sea. Other mountain torrents, as
they are called, flow down into the plain and encompass the parts about Gaza and the district of
118 Ashdod. The country is encircled by a natural fence and is very difficult to attack and cannot be
assailed by large forces, owing to the narrow passes, with their overhanging precipices and deep
119 ravines, and the rugged character of the mountainous regions which surround all the land.
We were told that from the neighbouring mountains of Arabia copper and iron were formerly obtained.
This was stopped, however, at the time of the Persian rule, since the authorities of the time spread
120 abroad a false report that the working of the mines was useless and expensive, in order to prevent
their country from being destroyed by the mining in these districts and possibly taken away from
them owing to the Perstan rule, tsince by the assistance of this false report they found an excuse
for entering the districtf.
I have now, my dear brother Philocrates, given you all the essential information upon this subject
121 in brief form. I shall describe the work of translation in the sequel. The High priest selected men of
the finest character and the highest culture, such as one would expect from their noble parentage.
They were men who had not only acquired proficiency in Jewish literature. but had studied most
122 carefully that of the Greeks as well. They were specially qualified therefore for serving on embassies
and they undertook this duty whenever it was necessary. They possessed a great facility for
conferences and the discussion of problems cunnected with the law. They espoused the middle
course—and this is always the best course to pursue. They abjured the rough and uncouth manner,
but they were altogether above pride and never assumed an air of superiority over others, and in
conversation they were ready to listen and give an appropriate answer to every question. And all
of them carefully observed this rule and were anxious above everything else to excel each other in
123 its observance and they were all of them worthy of their leader and of his virtue. And one could
observe how they loved Eleazar by their unwillingness to be torn away from him and how he loved
them. For besides the letter which he wrote to the king concerning their safe return, he also earnestly
124 besought Andreas to work for the same end and urged me, too, to assist to the best of my ability. And

114. rich in the arts, πολύτεχνος. The description of Jerusalem as ‘a city of many crafts’ is an exaggeration even
when we admit that the phrase need not necessarily imply technical originality. Apollonius of Rhodes goes to the
opposite extremes when he says ‘the Jews are the most inept of the Barbarians and the only ones who have not
contributed any invention useful to life’, Josephus, c. Apion. ii. 15. Cf. G. A. Smith, Jerusalem, i. 373.

115. Ptolemais founded by the King. The reference is to Philadelphus II, who gave his name to the town
which was previously called Acco or Akka, though some authorities regard it as the foundation of Ptolemy I
(cf. Mahaffy, Ptolemaic Dynasty, 60). The place figures very largely in the relations between Egypt and Palestine,
see Ency. Bib., art. ‘Ptolemais’. Wendland attaches considerable importance to the data afforded by the mention of
these harbours for fixing the date of Aristeas. Joppa did not belong to the Jews till after 146 B.C. (1 Mac. x. 76,
xiv. 5, 34) Gaza was not Jewish territory till it was captured by Alexander Jannaeus about 96 B.c. The fact, however,
that Ascalon and Ptolemais were never Jewish towns makes it impossible to attach too much importance to this
Savane) The writer might obviously have made the same mistake about Joppa and Gaza as about Ascalon and
?tolemais.

116. made incursions. Two MSS. read ὑπέβησαν (‘retired’) for ἐπέβησαν. It is difficult, however, to make this
reading fit in with the general sense of the passage.

a hundred acres. The writer may possibly be transferring the land system of the Fayfim to Palestine.
We know from the Papyri that cleruchies of 100 arourae were common in this district of Egypt. Cf. Mahaffy, Ptolemaic
Dynasty, p. 90.

122. They espoused the middle course. An illustration of the influence of the Aristotelian doctrine of the mean
on Jewish thought, cp. ὃ 223 πλὴν ἐν πᾶσι μετριότης καλόν, and also § 256.

106

THE LETTER ΘΕ ARISTEAS 124-139

although we promised to give our best attention to the matter, he said that he was still greatly
distressed, for he knew that the king out of the goodness of his nature considered it his highest
privilege, whenever he heard of a man who was superior to his fellows in culture and wisdom, to
125 summon him to his court. For I have heard of a fine saying of his to the effect that by securing
just and prudent men about his person he would secure the greatest protection for his kingdom,
since such friends would unreservedly give him the most beneficial advice. And the men who were
126 now being sent to him by Eleazar undoubtedly possessed these qualities. And he frequently
asserted upon oath that he would never let the men go if it were merely some private interest
of his own that constituted the impelling motive—but it was for the common advantage of
127 all the citizens that he was sending them. For, he explained, the good life consists in the keeping of
_ the enactments of the law, and this end is achieved much more by hearing than by reading. From
this and other similar statements it was clear what his feelings towards them were.
128 It is worth while to mention briefly the information which he gave in reply to our questions.
For I suppose that most people feel a curiosity with regard to some of the enactments in the law,
_ 129 especially those about meats and drinks and animals recognised as unclean. When we asked why, since
there is but one form of creation, some animals are regarded as unclean for eating, and others unclean
even to the touch (for though the law is scrupulous on most points, it is specially scrupulous on such
130 matters as these) he began his reply as follows : ‘ You observe,’ he said, ‘ what an effect our modes
of life and our associations produce upon us ; by associating with the bad, men catch their depravities
and become miserable throughout their life ; but if they live with the wise and prudent, they find
131 the means of escaping from ignorance and amending their lives. Our Lawgiver first of all laid
down the principles of piety and righteousness and inculcated them point by point, not merely by
prohibitions but by the use of examples as well, demonstrating the injurious effects of siz and the
_ 132 punishments inflicted by God upon the guilty. For he proved first of all that there is only one
God and that his power is manifested throughout the universe, since every place is filled with his
sovereignty and none of the things which are wrought in secret by men upon the earth escapes His
knowledge. For all that a man does and all that is to come to pass in the future are manifest to
133 Him. Working out these truths carefully and having made them plain, he showed that even if
: a man should think of doing evil—to say nothing of actually effecting it,—he would not escape
_ 134 detection, for he made it clear that the power of God pervaded the whole of the law. Beginning
from this starting point he went on to show that all mankind except ourselves believe in the
existence of many gods, though they themselves are much more powerful than the beings whom
135 they vainly worship. For when they have made statues of stone and wood, they say that they are
the images of those who have invented something useful for life and they worship them, though
136 they have clear proof that they possess no feeling. For it would be utterly foolish to suppose that
any one became a god in virtue of his inventions. For the inventors simply took certain objects
already created and by combining them together, showed that they possessed a fresh utility: they
137 did not themselves create the substance of the thing, and so it is a vain and foolish thing for people
to make gods of men like themselves. For in our times there are many who are much more
inventive and much more learned than the men of former days who have been deified, and yet they
would never come to worship them. The makers and authors of these myths think that they are
138 the wisest of the Greeks. Why need we speak of other infatuated people, Egyptians and the like,
who place their reliance upon wild beasts and most kinds of creeping things and cattle, and worship
them, and offer sacrifices to them both while living and when dead ?’
139 ‘Now our Lawgiver being a wise man and specially endowed by God to understand all things, took

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124. to give our best attention. The MSS. read ἀφροντίσειν which is obviously a corruption. Wendland suggests
εὖ φροντίσειν, which gives the sense required.
127. The good life consists: a good statement of the Pharisaic position which is advocated in this section of the
Epistle. For the ethical function of the law cp. §§ 144, 168, 169.
128. I suppose people. So Euseb.
129. specially scrupulous. The reading is uncertain. Some MSS. read πάνυ δεισιδαιμόνως. Eusebius has πάλιν
Γ πάνυ. Other MSS. of Aristeas combine thetwo. Schmidt suggests παντάπασι and Wendland reads παντελῶς. The
ing however is clear.
133. the power of God pervaded, or ‘throughout the whole of the law, he displayed the power of God’ (Thackeray).
135. who have invented something useful. Aristeas’ explanation of the origin of idolatry is Euhemeristic.
Euhemerus, who lived at the Court of Cassander in Macedonia about 316 B.C., maintained that the gods were originally
men who had distinguished themselves either as warriors or benefactors of mankind, and who after their death received
divine worship from the grateful people. Contrast the explanation of the origin of idolatry in the Book of Wisdom,
___where it is derived from Nature-worship (ch. xiii), ‘ Vain are all men by nature who are ignorant of God... and deem
either fire or wind or the swift air, or the circle of the stars, or the turbulent water, or the lights of heaven to be the
gods which govern the world.’
136. it would be... foolish, reading ἀνόητον (Eusebius) for the MSS. ἀνόητοι.
became a god. So Wendland emends.

107

ys a

THE LETTER OF ARISTEAS 139-151

a comprehensive view of each particular detail, and fenced us round with impregnable ramparts and
walls of iron, that we might not mingle at all with any of the other nations, but remain pure in body
and soul, free from all vain imaginations, worshipping the one Almighty God above the whole
140 creation. Hence the leading Egyptian priests having looked carefully into many matters, and being
cognizant with (our) affairs, call us “men of God”. This is a title which does not belong to the rest of
mankind but only to those who worship the true God. The rest are men xot of God but of meats
and drinks and clothing. For their whole disposition leads them to find solace in these things.
141 Among our people such things are reckoned of no account, but throughout their whole life their
142 main consideration is the sovereignty of God. Therefore lest we should be corrupted by any
abomination, or our lives be perverted by evil communications, he hedged us round on all sides by
143 rules of purity, affecting alike what we eat, or drink, or touch, or hear, or see. For though, speaking
generally, all things are alike in their natural constitution, since they are all governed by one and the
same power, yet there is a deep reason in each individual case why we abstain from the use of certain
things and enjoy the common use of others. For the sake of illustration I will run over one or two
144 points and explain them to you. For you must not fall into the degrading idea that it was out of
regard to mice and weasels and other such things that Moses drew up his laws with such exceeding
care. All these ordinances were made for the sake of righteousness to aid the quest for virtue and
145 the perfecting of character. For all the birds that we use are tame and distinguished by their
cleanliness, feeding on various kinds of grain and pulse, such as for instance pigeons, turtle-doves,
146 locusts, partridges, geese also, and all other birds of this class. But the birds which are forbidden
you will find to be wild and carnivorous, tyrannising over the others by the strength which they possess,
and cruelly obtaining food by preying on the tame birds enumerated above. And not only so, but
147 they seize lambs and kids, and injure human beings too, whether dead or alive, and so by naming
them unclean, he gave a sign by means of them that those, for whom the legislation was ordained,
must practise righteousness in their hearts and not tyrannise over any one in reliance upon their own
strength nor rob them of anything, but steer their course of life in accordance with justice, just as
the tame birds, already mentioned, consume the different kinds of pulse that grow upon the earth
148 and do not tyrannise to the destruction of their own kindred. Our legislator taught us therefore
that it is by such methods as these that indications are given to the wise, that they must be just and
effect nothing by violence, and refrain from tyrannising over others in reliance upon their own
149 strength. For since it is considered unseemly even to touch such wzclean animals, as have been
mentioned, on account of their particular habits, ought we not to take every precaution lest our own
150 characters should be destroyed to the same extent? Wherefore all the rules which he has laid down
with regard to what is permitted in the case of these dzvds and other animals, he has enacted with
the object of teaching us a moral lesson. For the division of the hoof and the separation of the
claws are intended to teach us that we must discriminate between our individual actions with a view
to the practice of virtue. For the strength of our whole body and its activity depend upon our
shoulders and limbs. Therefore he compels us to recognise that we must perform all our actions

140. cognizant with (our) affairs, μετεσ χηκότες πραγμάτων, ‘conversant with the world’ (Thackeray). Diels suggests

γραμμάτων, for πραγμάτων, ‘conversant with literature.’
men of meats and drinks, &c. Cp. Matt. vi. 31-2 ‘After all these things do the Gentiles seek.’ The word
translated ‘ clothing’ (σκέπη) also means ὁ shelter’ or ‘ protection’ and this may possibly be the meaning here.

144. the degrading idea, εἰς τὸν καταπεπτωκότα λόγον, or ‘Thou must not be led to follow the rejected view’
(Thackeray).

mice. In Eusebius the best attested reading seems to be μυιῶν, ‘ flies’. For the Mosaic prohibition see Lev, xi.
29. For the argument cp. 1 Cor. ix. 9, ‘ Doth God care for the oxen?’

145. locusts, Lev. xi. 22. In both RV and AV the word ἀττάκης is translated ‘ bald locust’. In Eusebius the
best attested reading is drrayai a species of moor-fowl, There is a full description of this bird in Athen. ix. 357, where
it is said to be ‘rather bigger than a partridge, striped all over the back and of the colour of clay but rather redder,
Goeeponding perhaps to the “attagen Ionicus” of Hor. /fod. ii. 54.’ Cp. Gifford’s note on Eusebius, Praep.

EVang. 372C.

si destruction of their own kindred. Eusebius (whom Wendland follows here) inserts οὔτε τῶν ὑποβεβηκότων
οὔτε, before τῶν συγγενικῶν ‘for the destruction either of those beneath them or of their own kind’.

150. teaching us a moral lesson. The allegorical method seems to have been first employed on a large scale by

, the Stoics, though there are traces of it in Plato and Aristotle. Philo is of course the great exponent of the method,
| though the fact that he speaks of it as a well-established system and warns men that the allegorical interpretation does
’ not destroy the literal force of the enactments of the law, proves that it had already found its way into Jewish circles—
a fact which is further substantiated by the New Testament (Drummond, PA:/o, i. 20). There is a sign of it, too, in
the Book of Wisdom (x. 17, xviii. 24). But we have no trace of so elaborate an employment of the method, as we find
in Aristeas, amongst the Jews before Philo. It is curious, too, that it is only used in the law section. Aristeas does not
take the opportunity of introducing it into his explanation of the High Priest’s dress, which was a favourite subject
with later allegorists (cf. Philo, Vit. Mos. iii. 11-14, De Monarchéa, ii. 225.7 and Josephus, Avfig. iii. 7. 7). The

best illustration of the method of Aristeas is found in the Epistle of Barnabas.

division of the hoof, cp. Lev. xi. 3 ff., Deut. xiv. 6 ff.
151. compels us to recognise. The text is aie There are two readings (1) ἀναγκάζει τὸ onpecoto ba,
10

THE LETTER OF ARISTEAS 151-165

with discrimination according to the standard of righteousness—more especially because we have
152 been distinctly separated from the rest of mankind. For most other men defile themselves by
promiscuous intercourse, thereby working great iniquity, and whole countries and cities pride them-
selves upon such vices. For they not only have intercourse with men but they defile their own
153 mothers and even their daughters. But we have been kept separate from such sins. And the
people who have been separated in the aforementioned way are also characterised dy the Lawgiver
as possessing the gift of memory. For all animals “which are cloven-footed and chew the cud”
154 represent to the initiated the symdo/ of memory. For the act of chewing the cud is nothing else
than the reminiscence of life and existence. For life is wont to be sustained by means of food,
155 wherefore he exhorts us in the Scripture also in these words: ‘‘ Thou shalt surely remember the Lord
that wrought in thee those great and wonderful things”. For when they are properly conceived,
they are manifestly great and glorious ; first the construction of the body and the disposition of the
156 food and the separation of each individual limb and, far more, the organisation of the senses, the operation
and invisible movement of the mind, the rapidity of its particular actions and its discovery of the
157 arts, display an infinite resourcefulness. Wherefore he exhorts us to remember that the aforesaid
parts are kept together by the divine power with consummate skill. For he has marked out every
158 time and place that we may continually remember the God who rules and preserves (us). For in the
matter of meats and drinks he bids us first of all offer part as a sacrifice and then forthwith enjoy
our meal. Moreover, upon our garments he has given us a symbol of remembrance, and in like
manner he has ordered us to put the divine oracles upon our gates and doors as a remembrance of
159 God. And upon our hands, too, he expressly orders the symbol to be fastened, clearly showing that
we ought to perform every act in righteousness, remembering (our own creation), and above all the
160 fear of God. He bids men also, when lying down to sleep and rising up again, to meditate upon the
works of God, not only in word, but by observing distinctly the change and impression produced
upon them, when they are going to sleep, and also their waking, how divine and. incomprehensible

τότ the change from one of these states to the other is. The excellency of the analogy in regard to

discrimination and memory has now been pointed out to you, according to our interpretation of “ the
cloven hoof and the chewing of the cud”. For our laws have not been drawn up at random or in
accordance with the first casza/ thought that occurred to the mind, but with a view to truth and the

τό indication of right reason. For by means of the directions which he gives with regard to meats and

drinks and particular cases of touching, he bids us neither to do nor listen to anything thoughtlessly
163 nor to resort to injustice by the abuse of the power of reason. In the case of the wild animals, too,
the same principle may be discovered. For the character of the weasel and of mice and such
164 animals as these, which are expressly mentioned, is destructive. Mice defile and damage everything,
not only for their own food but even to the extent of rendering absolutely useless to man whatever

_ 165 it falls in their way to damage. The weasel class, too, is peculiar: for besides what has been said, it

(2)... τῷ σημειοῦσθαι. Thackeray conjectures ὃ σημειοῦται, and translates ‘ He constrains us to do everything ... as he
signifies by these symbols’. Gifford in Eusebius rendering (2) translates ‘ by the signification herein given’.

152. we have been kept separate, διεστάλμεθα or ‘we have received express injunctions’, see Lev. xviii. 6 ff. It is
significant as Wendland says that there is no reference to the Egyptian practice of marrying a sister.

154. life is wont to be sustained, or ‘ He considers that life exists by taking food’ (Thackeray),

155. in the scripture. For this remarkable introduction to the quotation, see note on § 168.

Thou shalt remember. A loose quotation of phrases conflated from Deut. vii. 18, 19, and x. 21. ‘The great
and wonderful things’ of Deut. refer to the Divine deliverances of Israel, but here the phrase is applied to the human
anatomy. Gifford thinks there is a reminiscence of Job xlii. 3.

156. display an infinite, &c., lit. ‘contain an infinite manner,’ ἀπέραστον περιέχει τρόπον. Thackeray renders ‘ bear
the marks of an infinite wisdom’. Gifford, reading ἐπέραστον, renders ‘ have a delightful character ’.

157. kept together ... with consummate skill, Thackeray renders ‘are both created and preserved ’.

158. enjoy. So Euseb. +

upon our garments, ἐκ τῶν περιβολαίων. There seems to be an allusion to Num. xv. 38, and Deut. xxii. 12 ἐπὶ
τῶν τεσσάρων κρασπέδων τῶν περιβολαίων σου. The reference is to the zizith or gedilim fringes or twisted threads at the
four corners of the garment, see YAH art. ‘Fringes’, Schiirer, 27 ii, 2. 112.

the divine oracles, see note on § 177.

upon our gates, cp. Deut. vi. 7 ff., a reference to the Mesusa, an oblong box fixed to house and room doors above
the right-hand door-post on which was written in twenty-two lines the two paragraphs, Deut. vi. 4-9, xi. 13-21. Schiirer,
Salt. 31. 2, 112,

159. upon our hands, cp. Deut. vi. 8, a reference to the Zepfil/a, a small dice-shaped hollow parchment case
on which were written the passages Ex. xiii. 1-10, xiii. 11-16; Deut. vi. 4-9. xi. 13-21. It was fastened by means of
a strap drawn through it to the upper part of the left arm, Schiirer 7, ii. 2. 113.

our own creation. Restored from Euseb. f

160. going to sleep. Aristeas seems to have been interested in the psychology of sleep. See §§ 213-16, and
cp. the discussion in 3 Mac. v. 11. :

162. by the abuse of the power, &c., or ‘and not by availing ourselves of the overbearing power of speech have
recourse to unrighteousness’ (Thackeray), or ‘nor to resort to injustice by employing the mastery of language’.

109

THE LETTER OF ARISTEAS 165-177

has a characteristic which is defiling : It conceives through the ears and brings forth through the

166 mouth. And it is for this reason that a like practice is declared unclean in men. For by embodying
in speech all that they receive through the ears, they involve others in evils and work no ordinary
impurity, being themselves altogether defiled by the pollution of impiety. And your king, as we
are informed, does quite right in destroying such men.’

16] Then I said ‘I suppose you mean the informers, for he constantly exposes them to tortures and to

168 painful forms of death’. ‘Yes, he replied, ‘these are the men I mean; for to watch for men’s
destruction is an unholy thing. And our law forbids us to injure any one either by word or deed. My
brief account of these matters ought to have convinced you, that all our regulations have been drawn
up with a view to righteousness, and that nothing has been enacted in the Scripture thoughtlessly or
without due reason, but its purpose is to enable us throughout our whole life and in all our actions

169 to practise righteousness before all men, being mindful of Almighty God. And so concerning meats
and things unclean, creeping things, and wild, beasts, the whole system aims at righteousness and
righteous relationships between man and man.’

170 He seemed to me to have made a good defence on all the points; for in reference also to the
calves and rams and goats which are offered, he said that it was necessary to take them from the
herds and flocks, and sacrifice tame animals and offer nothing wild, that the offerers of the sacrifices
might understand the symbolic meaning of the lawgiver and not be under the influence of an arrogant
self-consciousness. For he, who offers a sacrifice, makes an offering also of his own soul in all

171 its moods. I think that these particulars with regard to our discussion are worth narrating, and

on account of the sanctity and natural meaning of the law, I have been induced to explain them
to you clearly, Philocrates, because of your own devotion to learning.

2 And Eleazar, after offering the sacrifice, and selecting the envoys, and preparing many gifts for the

.4 king, despatched us on our journey in great security. And when we reached Alexandria, the king

was at once informed of our arrival. On our admission to the palace, Andreas and I warmly greeted

174 the king and handed over to him the letter written by Eleazar. The king was very anxious
to meet the envoys, and gave orders that all the other officials should be dismissed and the envoys

175 summoned to his presence az once. Now this excited general surprise, for it is customary for those
who come to seek an audience with the king on matters of importance to be admitted to his presence
on the fifth day, while envoys from kings or very important cities with difficulty secure admission
to the Court in thirty days—but these men he counted worthy of greater honour, since he held their
master in such high esteem, and so he immediately dismissed those whose presence he regarded as
superfluous and continued walking about until they came in and he was able to welcome them.

176 When they entered with the gifts which had been sent with them and the valuable parchments, on
which the law was inscribed in gold in Jewish characters, for the parchment was wonderfully
prepared and the connexion Jetween the pages had been so effected as to be invisible, the king as soon

177 as he saw them began to ask them about the books. And when they had taken the rolls out of their
coverings and unfolded the pages, the king stood still for a long time and then making obeisance ~
about seven times, he said: ‘I thank you, my friends, and I thank him that sent you still more, and

165. through the mouth, cf. ΕΖ. Barn. x. 8. Aristotle, De Generatione Animalium, iii. 6. 5, refutes this common
belief and explains its origin. ‘The weasel has just the same kind of womb as all other quadrupeds. How then can
the embryo pass from it into the mouth? But because the weasel, like all other cloven-footed animals . . . brings forth
extremely small young and often carries them from place to place in her mouth, she has given rise to this opinion’
(quoted by Gifford, Zzses. 374 ἃ).

167. informers, éupavicrai—delatores. Graetz cites this passage as an argument for the late date of the Epistle—
and thinks that it refers incontestably to the punishment inflicted on two Roman knights at the instigation of the
Emperor for bringing false charges against the Praetor Magius Caecilianus in A.D. 21: cp. the concluding words of § 166,
‘Your king as we are informed does quite right in putting such men to death’.

168. has been enacted in the Scripture, οὐδὲν εἰκῇ κατατέτακται διὰ τῆς γραφῆς. Compare ὃ 155. This is probably
the first instance where the law is spoken of as Scripture. It is quite a question whether ἡ γραφή is used in this sense
even in the New Testament (see Lightfoot’s note on Gal. iii. 22). We find the phrase ἐν γραφῇ νόμου Μωυσέως used in
the Testaments of the Patriarchs (T. Zab. iii. 4), but there appears to be no instance of ἡ γραφή used alone in the pre-
Christian era. Deissmann has shown that the phrase [κατὰ τὴ]ν γραφήν is found ona Fayfim Papyrus of 5-6 a.D.—and
argues that in the first instance it was used as the equivalent of τὸ γεγραμμένον in legal documents (Biblical Studies,
p. 250). Compare the use of ἄγραφα and διὰ γραπτῶν in ὃ 56. Possibly the usage may go back to earlier times.

168. without due reason, lit. ‘ of a legendary character’, or ‘in a fabulous way’, reading μυθωδῶς (as in Eusebius)
for θυμωδῶς as in the MSS.

170. He seemed to me. There is some doubt as to whether this rendering of ἐνόμιζε is possible. Gifford thinks this
usage of the word is peculiar to Aristeas and compares the phrases νομίζειν yap τοῖς πολλοῖς in ὃ 128. Wendland and
Thackeray conjecture ἐνομίζετο. Otherwise we must translate ‘ He thought that he had given me a good defence on
all the points’.

ἔν. δ ρον and natural meaning, διὰ τὴν σεμνότητα καὶ φυσικὴν διάνοιαν τοῦ νόμου. The meaning of the latter
phrase is uncertain. Schiirer thinks it refers to the ‘naturalness ’ or ‘reasonableness’ of the law. Thackeray translates
‘the solemnity and inner meaning of the law’.

110

THE LETTER OF ARISTEAS 178-187

78 most of all God, whose oracles these are.’ And when all, the envoys and the others who were
present as well, shouted out at one time and with one voice: ‘God save the King!’ he burst into
tears of joy. For his exaltation of soul and the sewse of the overwhelming honour which had been
179 paid him compelled him to weep over his good fortune. He commanded them to put the rolls
back in their places and then after saluting the men, said: ‘It was right, men of God, that I should
first of all pay my reverence to the books for the sake of which I summoned you here and then,
when I had done that, to extend the right-hand of friendship to you. It was for this reason that I
did this first. I have enacted that this day, on which you arrived, shall be kept as a great day and
it will be celebrated annually throughout my life time. It happens also that it is the anniversary of
81 my naval victory over Antigonus. Therefore I shall be glad to feast with you to-day.’ ‘ Everything
that you may have occasion to use’, he said, ‘shall be prepared (for you) in a befitting manner and
for me also with you.’ After they had expressed their delight, he gave orders that the best quarters
near the citadel should be assigned to them, and that preparations should be made for the banquet.
82 And Nicanor summoned the lord high steward, Dorotheus, who was the special officer appointed to
look after the ews, and commanded him to make the necessary preparation for each one. For
this arrangement had been made by the king and it is an arrangement which you see maintained
to-day. For as many cities (as) have (special) customs in the matter of drinking, eating, and reclining,
have special officers appointed 720 look after their requirements. And whenever they come to visit
the kings, preparations are made in accordance with their own customs, in order that there may be
no discomfort to disturb the enjoyment of their visit. The same precaution was taken in the case of
the Jewish envoys. Now Dorotheus who was the patron appointed to look after Fewish guests was
183 3. very conscientious man. All the stores which were under his control and set apart for the
reception of such guests, he brought out for the feast. He arranged the seats in two rows in
accordance with the king’s instructions. For he had ordered him to make half the men sit at his right
hand and the rest behind him, in order that he might not withhold from them the highest possible
__ honour. When they had taken their seats he instructed Dorotheus to carry out everything in
184 accordance with the customs which were in use amongst his Jewish guests. Therefore he dispensed
__ with the services of the sacred heralds and the sacrificing priests and the others who were
᾿ς accustomed to offer the prayers, and called upon one of our number, Eleazar, the oldest of the Jewish
priests, to offer prayer instead. And he rose up and made a remarkable prayer. ‘May Almighty
185 God enrich you, O king, with all the good things which He has made and may He grant you and your
wife and your children and your comrades the continual possession of them as long as you live!’
At these words a loud and joyous applause broke out which lasted for a considerable time, and then
186 they turned to the enjoyment of the banquet which had been prepared. All the arrangements for
service at table were carried out in accordance with the injunction of Dorotheus. Among the

__ attendants were the royal pages and others who held places of honour at the king’s court.
187 Taking an opportunity afforded by a pause in the banquet the king asked the envoy who sat in

5.
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177. whose oracles these are. Cp.§ 158. This is probably the earliest instance of the application of the term
τὰ λόγια to the law as a whole, though it is used in Sirach xxxvi. 14 of divine utterances in general. This use of the
word is found several times in the New Testament: Acts vii. 38; Rom. iii. 2; Heb. v. 12.

180. celebrated annually. Philo asserts that an annual festival was held at Pharos in his day to celebrate the
translation of the LXX (de vita Moysis, ii. 7. 140 M).

naval victory over Antigonus. Philadelphus was decisively defeated by Antigonus Gonatas at the battle of
Kos (c. 258). Asaresult of this battle Egypt lost its supremacy for some years, though it regained its power in the
battle of Andros. Wendland thinks that Aristeas has purposely turned a defeat into a victory. Thackeray holds that
the reference may be to the victory at Andros. This latter suggestion seems very improbable. According to Droysen
the battle of Andros did not take place till 245 B.c.—two years after the death of Philadelphus. And even if with
Mahaffy we date it 247 B.c.—in the last year of the reign of Philadelphus—it would be impossible to reconcile the
statement here with other historical data in Aristeas. A victory in 247 B.C. could not have been made the subject of
an annual celebration before the death of Arsinoe (in 270 B.C.), who is assumed to be alive throughout the Epistle.

181. that you may have occasion to use. I adopt the conjecture of Wendland, who reads ois συγχρῆσθε for the
συγχρήσεσθε or συγχρήσησθε of the MSS. One important MS. reads συγχρῆσθαι, which seems to justify the emendation.

near the citadel. See note on § 41.

182. the lord high steward. The MSS. read ἀρχίητρος, the chief physician. This does not seem satisfactory, and
ee eneases ὁ ἐπὶ τῆς τῶν ξένων ἀποδοχῆς τεταγμένος... Letronne conjectures ἀρχεδέατρος (which is accepted by

endland), This word is found only on an Inscription (C.I.G. 4678). The term ἐδέατρος originally meant the official
who tasted dishes before the king, and was borrowed from Persia by Alexandria. ‘Apyedéarpos may be translated
*the lord high steward ’, cp. Thackeray, /QR, xv, p. 371. Lumbroso, Recherches sur [économie polit. del Egypte, 205.

183. all the stores, &c. Thackeray translates ‘ He laid out all the coverings for the couches which were in his
keeping and were set apart for receptions of this kind’.

- 184. Eleazar. According to Josephus the man’s name was Elisha, and Wendland suggests that this ought to be
᾿ regarded as the true reading here.
185. your wife and your children. See notes on § 41.

your comrades: ὁμονοοῦσι, lit. ‘Those who are in harmony with you.’ Wendland suggests ὁμογενέσι ‘ relatives’.
186. among the attendants, or ‘ among the guests were royal children’, &c.

LTE

THE LETTER OF ARISTEAS 188-199

the seat of honour (for they were arranged according to seniority), How he could keep his kingdom

188 unimpaired to the end? After pondering for a moment he replied, ‘You could best establish its
security if you were to imitate the unceasing benignity of God. For if you exhibit clemency and
inflict mild punishments upon those who deserve them in accordance with their deserts, you will

189 turn them from evil and lead them to repentance.’ The king praised the answer and then asked
the next man, How he could do everything for the best in all his actions? And he replied, ‘If
a man maintains a just bearing towards all, he will always act rightly on every occasion, remembering
that every thought is known to God. If you take the fear of God as your starting-point, you
will never miss the goal.’

190 The king complimented this man, too, upon his answer and asked another, How he could have
friends like-minded with himself? He replied, ‘If they see you studying the interests of the
multitudes over whom you rule; you will do well to observe how God bestows his benefits on the

191 human race, providing for them health and food and all other things in due season.’ After expressing
his agreement with the reply, the king asked the next guest, How in giving audiences and passi
judgments he could gain the praise even of those who failed to win their suit? And he said,
‘If you are fair in speech to all alike and never act insolently nor tyrannically in your treatment of

192 offenders. And you will do this if you watch the method by which God acts. The petitions of the
worthy are always fulfilled, while those who fail to obtain an answer to their prayers are informed by
means of dreams or events of what was harmful i their requests and that God does not smite them
according to their sins or the greatness of His strength, but acts with forbearance towards them.’

193 The king praised the man warmly for his answer and asked the next in order, How he could be
invincible in military affairs? And he replied, ‘If he did not trust entirely to his multitudes or his
warlike forces, but called upon God continually to bring his enterprises to a successful issue, while

194 he himself discharged all his duties in the spirit of justice.’ Welcoming this answer, he asked another
how he might become an object of dread to his enemies. And he replied, ‘If while maintaining
a vast supply of arms and forces he remembered that these things were powerless to achieve
a permanent and conclusive result. For even God instils fear into the minds of men by granting
reprieves and making merely a display of the greatness of his power.’

195 This man the king praised and then said to the next, What is the highest good in life? And he
answered ‘To know that God is Lord of the Universe, and that in our finest achievements it is not
we who attain success but God who by his power brings all things to fulfilment and leads us
to the goal.

196 The king exclaimed that the man had answered well and then asked the next How he could keep
all his possessions intact and finally hand them down to his successors in the same condition? And
he answered ‘ By praying constantly to God that you may be inspired with high motives in all your
undertakings and by warning your descendants not to be dazzled by fame or wealth, for it is God
who bestows all these gifts and men never by themselves win the supremacy ’.

197. The king expressed his agreement with the answer and enquired of the next guest, How he could
bear with equanimity whatever befell him? And he said, ‘If you have a firm grasp of the thought
that all men are appointed by God to share the greatest evil as well as the greatest good, since it is
impossible for one who is a man to be exempt from these. But God, to whom we ought always
to pray, inspires us with courage to endure.’

198 Delighted with the man’s reply, the king said that all their answers had been good. ‘I will put
a question to one other’, he added, ‘and then | will stop for the present: that we may turn our attention

199 to the enjoyment of ¢he feast and spend a pleasant time.’ Thereupon he asked the man, What is the
true aim of courage? And he answered, ‘If a right plan is carried out in the hour of danger in
accordance with the original intention. For all things are accomplished by God to your advantage,
O king, since your purpose is good.’

188. inflict mild punishments, βλιμάζων τοὺς ἀξίους ἐπιεικέστερον καθώς εἰσιν ἄξιοι. Thackeray, following Schmidt,
inserts # before καθώς, ‘punish with greater forbearance than is due tothem.’ Cp. also § 208.
189. do everything for the best, following the emendation of Wendland πῶς ἂν ἕκαστα (κάλλιστα) πράττοι.
Ifaman...act-rightly. I follow the text of Wendland here: δίκαιον εἰ πρὸς ἅπαντας διατηροῖ ἑαυτόν, καλῶς τὰ
ἕκαστα πράξει. Thackeray reads ἑαυτῷ and connects with the following clause ἑαυτῷ καλῶς τὰ ἕκαστα πράξει. This
is very difficult to translate because we cannot render ‘he will act rightly by Himself.’ Dr. Charles has suggested to
me that we might possibly read ἑαυτόν (which is found in some MSS.) and translate ‘ He will do everything best as
regards himself so long as he observes what is just towards all’; or else we might suppose that a καί has dropped out
before ἑαυτῷ, and then changing πράξει to πράσσοι or πράσσει we might translate ‘If a man maintains righteousness
towards all and always acts rightly in himself, &c.
starting-point. The emphasis on the connexion between morality and religion is one of the characteristics of
the Epistle. For the conception of God as the καταρχή of Ethics see δὲ 200, 235.
194. Even God instils. It will be observed that there is no logical parallel here between the human and divine

action, Wendland suggests that Aristeas makes use of an older collection of sayings, appending to each of them a not
always appropriate theological conclusion.

112

THE LETTER OF ARISTEAS 200-211

200 When all had signified by their applause their agreement with the answer, the king said to the
philosophers (for not a few of them were present), ‘It is my opinion that these men excel in virtue
and possess extraordinary knowledge, since on the spur of the moment they have given fitting
answers to these questions which I have put to them, and have all made God the starting-point of
their words.’

201 And Menedemus, the philosopher of Eretria, said, ‘True, O King—for since the universe is

managed by providence and since we rightly perceive that man is the creation of God, it follows

202 that all power and beauty of speech proceed from God.’ When the king had nodded his assent to
this sentiment, the speaking ceased and they proceeded to enjoy themselves. When evening came
on, the banquet ended.

203 On the following day they sat down to table again and continued the banquet according to the
same arrangements. When the king thought that a fitting opportunity had arrived to put inquiries
to his guests, he proceeded to ask further questions of the men who sat next in order to those who

204 had given answers on the previous day. He began to open the conversation with the eleventh man,
for there were ten who had been asked questions on the former occasion. When silence was

_ 205 established, he asked How he could continue to be rich? After a brief reflection, the man who had
been asked the question replied—‘If he did nothing unworthy of his position, never acted
licentiously, never lavished expense on empty and vain pursuits, but by acts of benevolence made all
his subjects well disposed towards himself. For it is God who is the author of all good things and

206 Him man must needs obey.’ The king bestowed praise upon him and then asked another How he

could maintain the truth? In reply to the question he said, ‘ By recognizing that a lie brings great

disgrace upon all men, and more especially upon kings. For since they have the power to do
whatever they wish, why should they resort to lies? In addition to this you must always remember,

O King, that God is a lover of the truth.’

a The king received the answer with great delight and looking az another said, ‘What is the
ἰ

fel eae me

*.-— ==

teaching of wisdom?’ And the other replied, ‘As you wish that no evil should befall you, but to
be a partaker of all good things, so you should act on the same principle towards your subjects and
offenders, and you should mildly admonish the noble and good. For God draws all men Zo Himself
j by his benignity.’
5208 The king praised him and asked the next in order How he could be the friend of men? And he
| replied, ‘ By observing that the human race increases and is born with much trouble and great
suffering: wherefore you must not lightly punish or inflict torments upon them, since you know that
the life of men is made up of pains and penalties. For if you understood everything you would be
filled with pity, for God also is pitiful.’
209 «©The king received the answer with approbation and inquired of the next ‘What is the most
᾿ς essential qualification for ruling?’ ‘To keep oneself’, he answered, ‘ free from bribery and to practise
sobriety during the greater part of one’s life, to honour righteousness above all things, and to make
friends of men of this type. For God, too, is a lover of justice.’
210 Having signified his approval, the king said to another ‘ What is the true mark of piety?’ And
_ he replied, “Το perceive that God constantly works in the Universe and knows all things, and no
man who acts unjustly and works wickedness can escape His notice. As God is the benefactor of
the whole world, so you, too, must imitate Him and be void of offence.’
air The king signified his agreement and said to another ‘What is the essence of kingship?’ And he
replied, ‘To rule oneself well and not to be led astray by wealth or fame to immoderate or unseemly
desires, this is the true way of ruling if you reason the matter well out. For all that you really need
is yours, and God is free from need and benignant withal. Let your thoughts be such as become
a man, and desire not many things but only such as are necessary for ruling.’

~ 201. Menedemus, a Greek philosopher who lived at Eretria in Euboea, where he founded a school of thought.
Born about 350 and died between 278 and 275 B.c. He was the disciple of Stilpo and the friend of Antigonus
Gonatas. Our knowledge of his philosophy is limited and indefinite; it is derived from statements in Athenaeus,
Diogenes Laertius, and Plutarch. We have no knowledge that he ever visited Alexandria, and his death had in all

ability occurred before he is introduced into the narrative here. See Gomperz, Greek Thinkers, ii. 205 ff. ;

. Mallett, Histoire de ['école de Mégare et des écoles d’ Elis et d’ Evétrie (1845).

206. in addition to this, reading προσλαμβάνειν. Wendland prefers προλαμβάνειν, which would be translated ‘ you
Must always set before your mind’.

207. As you wish that no evil. A similar statement of ‘the golden rule’ in its negative form is found in
Tob. iv. 15 καὶ 6 μισεῖς, μηδενὶ ποιήσῃς. Cp. Hillel, ‘ What is hateful to thyself, do not to thy fellow man.’

208, with much trouble, following an emendation of Wendland, who conjectures πόνῳ for χρόνῳ. If we take the MSS.
reading we must translate with Thackeray, ‘ By considering after how long a time and through what great sufferings
the human race comes to maturity, aye and to the birth!’

211. Thisis the true way. ‘he text is corrupt and some such words must be supplied to make sense.

All that you really need, following a conjecture of Wendland, who suggests ὅσα δέον, for ὡς οὐδέν. With the

1105-2 113 I

CE are el

THE LETTER ΟΕ ARISTEAS 212-225

212 The king praised him and asked another man How his deliberations might be for the best? and
he replied, ‘If he constantly set justice before him in everything and thought that injustice was
equivalent to deprivation of life. For God always promises the highest blessings to the just.’

213 Having praised him, the king asked the next How he could be free from disturbing thoughts
in his sleep? And he replied, ‘ You have asked me a question which is very difficult to answer, for
we cannot bring our true selves into play during the hours of sleep, but are held fast in these

214 by imaginations that cannot be controlled by reason. For our souls possess the feeling that
they actually see the things that enter into our consciousness during sleep. But we make
a mistake if we suppose that we are actually sailing on the sea in boats or flying through the air
or travelling to other regions or anything else of the kind. And yet we actually do imagine such

215 things to be taking place. So far as it is possible for me to decide, I have reached the following
conclusion. You must in every possible way, O King, govern your words and actions by the
rule of piety that you may have the consciousness that you are maintaining virtue and that you
never choose to gratify yourself at the expense of reason and never by abusing your power do

216 despite to righteousness. For the mind mostly busies itself in sleep with the same things with which
it occupies itself when awake. And he who has all his thoughts and actions set towards the noblest
ends establishes himself 2 righteousness both when he is awake and when he is asleep. Wherefore
you must be stedfast in the constant discipline of self.’

21] The king bestowed praise on the man and said to another—‘Since you are the tenth to answer,
when you have spoken, we will devote ourselves to the banquet. And then he put the question,

218 How can I avoid doing anything unworthy of myself? And he replied, ‘Look always to your
own fame and your own supreme. position, that you may speak and think only such things as are

219 consistent therewith, knowing that all your subjects think and talk about you. For you must not
appear to be worse than the actors, who study carefully the réle, which it is necessary for them to
play, and shape all their actions in accordance with it. You are not acting a part, but are really
a king, since God has bestowed upon you a royal authority in keeping with your character.’

220 When the king had applauded loud and long in the most gracious way, the guests were urged to
seek repose. So when the conversation ceased, they devoted themselves to the next course of
the feast.

221 On the following day, the same arrangement was observed, and when the king found an
opportunity of putting questions to the men, he questioned the first of those who had been left over

222 for the next interrogation, What is the highest form of government? And he replied, ‘To rule
oneself and not to be carried away by impulses. For all men possess a certain natural bent of mind.

223 It is probable that most men have an inclination towards food and drink and pleasure, and kings
a bent towards the acquisition of territory and great renown. But it is good that there should be
moderation in all things. What God gives, that you must take and keep, but never yearn for
things that are beyond your reach.’

224 Pleased with these words, the king asked the next How he could be free from envy? And he
after a brief pause replied, ‘If you consider first of all that it is God who bestows on all kings glory
and great wealth and no one is king by his own power. All men wish to share this glory but
cannot, since it is the gift of God.’

225 The king praised the man in a long speech and then asked another How he could despise his
enemies? And he replied, ‘If you show kindness to all men and win their friendship, you need

fear no one. To be popular with all men is the best of good gifts to receive from God.’

reading of the MSS. we must translate, ‘Everything is at your command, and it is as nothing.’ Mendelssohn conjectures
ὡς οὐδενί ‘ you, as no one else, possess everything you need.’

214. And yet we actually, following the conjecture of Schmidt, καὶ τοιαῦθ᾽ ἕτερα ὑπολαμβάνομεν καθεστάναι.
Thackeray connects with the previous sentence and reads ἃ κατὰ ταῦθ᾽ ὑπολαμβάνομεν. ... ‘ Other such things which we
then suppose to be taking place.’ Mendelssohn would substitute σφάλλεται for καθεστάναι, reading καὶ ὁ ταῦθ᾽ ὑπολαμ-
βάνων σφάλλεται, “ He who makes this supposition is under a delusion.’

216. he who has all his thoughts. Reading with Wendland és δὲ πάντα διαλογισμόν for the MSS. ὡς δέ, Thackeray
suggests θεὸς δέ (on the.ground that the divine name is always used in the concluding sentence of each response), and
further ἐγρηγορότος for ἐγρηγορώς. The translation then runs ‘ but God directs every thought and action which aims at
the highest both in waking hours and in sleep,’

219. worse than the actors, lit. ‘ the least of the actors.’ .

220. the guests were urged, ‘they urged the guests to sleep.’ The text appears to have suffered dislocation.

when the conversation ceased, καὶ τὰ μὲν πρὸς τούτους ὡς ἔληξεν, lit. ‘ when the turn of these men was ended’
(Thackeray), but probably the text is corrupt.

222. natural bent. For a further account of this inherent bias in human nature see ὃ 108 and especially 277.

223. and great renown, following the emendation of Wendland καὶ (for κατὰ) τὸ τῆς δόξης μέγεθος. If we follow the
MSS., the meaning is ‘in proportion to the greatness of their renown.’

moderation in all things. See note on § 122, and compare § 156.
224. by his own power, following the reading of Wendland, zap’ ἑαυτόν for ἑαυτοῦ, ‘ king of himself.’
225. best of good gifts. The text is corrupt. For the MSS. καὶ καλὸν δῶρον εἰληφέναι mapa θεοῦ τοῦτ᾽ ἐστὶ κράτιστο.---

114

- whe Pe a ee ee a ee

THE LETTER ΟΕ ARISTEAS 226-239

26 Having praised this answer the king ordered the next man to reply to the question, How he could
maintain his great renown? and he replied that ‘If you are generous and large-hearted in bestowing
kindness and acts of grace upon others, you will never lose your renown, but if you wish the
aforesaid graces to continue yours, you must call upon God continually.’

7 The king expressed his approval and asked the next, To whom ought a man to show liberality ?
And he replied, ‘All men acknowledge that we ought to show liberality to those who are well
disposed towards us, but I think that we ought to show the same keen spirit of generosity to those
who are opposed to us that by this means we may win them over to the right and to what is
advantageous to ourselves. But we must PEAY, to God that this may be accomplished, for he rules
the minds of all men.”

8 Having expressed his agreement with the answer, the king asked the sixth to reply to the
question, To whom ought we to exhibit gratitude? And he replied, ‘To our parents continually,
for God has given us a most important commandment with regard to the honour due to parents.
In the next place He reckons the attitude of friend towards friend for He speaks of “‘a friend which is
as thine own soul”. You do well in trying to bring all men into friendship with yourself.’

9 The king spoke kindly to him and then asked the next, What is it that resembles beauty in
value? And he said, ‘Piety, for it is the pre-eminent form of beauty, and its power lies in love,
which is the gift of God. This you have already acquired and with it all the blessings of life.’

The king in the most gracious way applauded the answer and asked another How, if he were to
fail, he could regain his reputation again in the same degree? And he said, ‘It is not possible for
you to fail, for you have sown in all men the seeds of gratitude which produce a harvest of goodwill,

31 and this is mightier than the strongest weapons and guarantees the greatest security. But if any

man does fail, he must never again do those things which caused his failure, but he must form

friendships and act justly. For it is the gift of God to be able to do good actions and not the
contrary.’
2 Delighted with these words, the king asked another How he could be free from grief? And he

_ replied, ‘If he never injured any one, but did good to everybody and followed the pathway of

133 righteousness, for its fruits bring freedom from grief. But we must pray to God that unexpected

evils such as death or disease or pain or anything of this kind may not come upon us and injure us,

But since you are devoted to piety, no such misfortune will ever come upon you.’

34 + +The king bestowed great praise upon him and asked the tenth, What is the highest form of glory?

__ And he said, ‘To honour God, and this is done not with gifts and sacrifices but with purity of soul
and holy conviction, since all things are fashioned and governed by God in accordance with His will.
Of this purpose you are in constant possession as all men can see from your achievements in the
past and in the present.’

5 With loud voice the king greeted them all and spoke kindly to them, and all those who were
resent expressed their approval, especially the philosophers. For they were far superior to them
i.e, the philosophers] both in conduct and in argument, since they always made God their starting-

point. After this the king to show his good feeling proceeded to drink the health of his guests.

236 On the following day the same arrangements were made for the banquet, and the king, as soon as
an opportunity occurred, began to put questions to the men who sat next to those who had already
responded, and he said to the first ‘Is wisdom capable of being taught?’ And he said, ‘ The soul is
so constituted that it is able by the divine power to receive all the good and reject the contrary.’

237 + The king expressed approval and asked the next man, What is it that is most beneficial to health?

__ And he said, ‘Temperance, and it is not possible to acquire this unless God create a disposition

towards it.’

The king spoke kindly to the man and said to another, ‘How can a man worthily pay the debt

of gratitude to his parents?’ And he said, ‘ By never causing them pain, and this is not possible

_ unless God dispose the mind to the pursuit of the noblest ends.’

2 The king expressed agreement and asked the next How he could become an eager listener? And

he said, ‘By remembering that all knowledge is useful, because it enables you by the help of God in

ἦ
a Thackeray suggests καὶ καλῶν δώρων (as above). Wendland conjectures καὶ καλὴν δόξαν εἰληφέναι δῶρον --- To win a fair
reputation is the highest gift of God.’
227. To whom ought a man, reading with Wendland πρὸς τίνα for the MSS, πῶς τινα.
228. most important commandment. Exod. xx. 12.
a friend .+.as thine own soul, ἴσον τῇ ψυχῇ τὸν φίλον, quoted from the LXX of Deut. xiii. 6 φίλος ἴσος τῆς ψυχῆς
σου (A τῇ τῇ ψυχῆ). For the use of the LXX see δὲ 56-7, 87, 96-9
236. The soul is so constituted, &c., or ‘The soul is τ πος God's power so adapted as to accept all that is good
and to reject what is contrary thereto’ (Thackeray). For the conception that Divine assistance is needed for the
attainment of virtue see §§ 226, 238, 248.

115 1.2

THE LETTER OF ARISTEAS 239-252

a time of emergency to select some of the things which you have learned and apply them to the
crisis which confronts you. And so the efforts of men are fulfilled by the assistance of God.’

.“240 The king praised him and asked the next How he could avoid doing anything contrary to law ?
And he said, ‘If you recognize that it is God who has put the thoughts into the hearts of the
lawgivers that the lives of men might be preserved, you will follow them.’

241 The king acknowledged the man’s answer and said to another, ‘What is the advantage of
kinship?’ And he replied, ‘ If we consider that we ourselves are afflicted by the misfortunes which
fall upon our relatives and if their sufferings become our own—then the strength of kinship is

242 apparent at once, for it is only when such feeling is shown that we shall win honour and esteem in
their eyes. For help, when it is linked with kindliness, is of itself a bond which is altogether
indissoluble. And in the day of their prosperity we must not crave their possessions, but must pray
God to bestow all manner of good upon them.’

243 And having accorded to him the same praise as to the rest, the king asked another How he could
attain freedom from fear? And he said, ‘When the mind is conscious that it has wrought no evil,
and when God directs it to all noble counsels.’

244 The king expressed his approval and asked another How he could always maintain a right
judgement? And he replied, ‘ If he constantly set before his eyes the misfortunes which befall men
and recognized that it is God who takes away prosperity from some and brings others to great
honour and glory.’

245 Theking gavea kindly reception to the man and asked the next to answer the question How he
could avoid a life of ease and pleasure? And he replied, ‘If he continually remembered that he was
the ruler of a great empire and the lord of vast multitudes, and that his mind ought not to be
occupied with other things, but he ought always to be considering how he could best promote their
welfare. He must pray, too, to God that no duty might be neglected.’

246 Having bestowed praise upon him, the king asked the tenth How he could recognize those who
were dealing treacherously with him? And he replied to the question, ‘If he observed whether the
bearing of those about him was natural and whether they maintained the proper rule of precedence
at receptions and councils, and in their general intercourse, never going beyond the bounds of

247 propriety in congratulations or in other matters of deportment. But God will incline your mind,
O King, to all that is noble.’ When the king had expressed his loud approval and praised them all
individually (amid the plaudits of all who were present), they turned to the enjoyment of the feast.

248 And on the next day, when the opportunity offered, the king asked the next man, What is the
grossest form of neglect? And he replied, ‘If a man does not care for his children and devote every
effort to their education. For we always pray to God not so much for ourselves as for our children
that every blessing may be theirs. Our desire that our children may possess self-control is only
realized by the power of God.’

249 The king said that he had spoken well and then asked another How he could be patriotic? ‘ By
keeping before your mind,’ he replied, ‘the thought that it is good to live and die in one’s own
country. Residence abroad brings contempt upon the poor and shame upon the rich as though
they had been banished for acrime. If you bestow benefits upon all, as you continually do, God
will give you favour with all and you will be accounted patriotic.’

250 After listening to this man, the king asked the next in order How he could live amicably with
his wife? And he answered, ‘By recognizing that womankind are by nature headstrong and
energetic in the pursuit of their own desires, and subject to sudden changes of opinion through
fallacious reasoning, and their nature is essentially weak. It is necessary to deal wisely with them
and not to provoke strife. For the successful conduct of life the steersman must know the goal
toward which he ought to direct his course. It is only by calling upon the help of God that
men can steer a true course of life at all times.’

252 The king expressed his agreement and asked the next How he could be free from error? And

239. apply them to the crisis. The text is uncertain. The MSS. read ἀνθυποτιθῇς πρὸς τὰ τῶν καιρῶν dy ἀντιπράσση-
rat, which is obviously corrupt. Thackeray renders ‘that ... bringing it to bear upon an emergency thou mayest
counteract the events of critical times ’.

242. help, when it is linked, τὸ yap συνεργὲς εὐνόως γινόμενον. Some editors prefer τὸ yap συγγενές, ‘kinship.’

246. natural, lit. ‘ free’, ἐλευθέριον. é

If he observed whether. It is doubtful whether the sentence refers to the conduct of the king or the courtiers.
If we read μηδὲν ὑπερτείνοντας τοῦ δέοντος, we must adopt the latter alternative. If we read ὑπερτείνειν, the former is just
possible and we may translate, ‘ If he maintained a free bearing and constantly observed the proper rule of precedence
at receptions, councils, and in his general intercourse with those about him and took care to avoid exceeding the
noun of propriety in his congratulations,’ ἄς, The other reading and rendering, however, provides the best answer
to the question. δ ;

218. Our desire, τὸ δὲ ἐπιδεῖσθαι παιδία for the MSS. παιδείαν. Wendland also suggests that we should read ~~
ἐπιδέσθαι, ‘ But tolive to see our children endowed with self-control is a gift,’ &c.

116

THE LETTER OF ARISTEAS 252-266

he replied, ‘If you always act with deliberation and never give credence to slanders, but prove for
yourself the things that are said to you and decide by your own judgement the requests which are
made to you and carry out everything in the light of your judgement, you will be free from error,
O King. But the knowledge and practice of these things is the work of the Divine power.’
63 Delighted with these words, the king asked another How he could be free from wrath? And he said
in reply to the question, ‘If he recognized that he had power over all even to inflict death upon
them, if he gave way to wrath, and that it would be useless and pitiful if he, just because he was lord,
4 deprived many of life. What need was there for wrath, when all men were in subjection and no one
was hostile to him? It is necessary to recognize that God rules the whole world in the spirit of
kindness and without wrath at all, and you, said he, ‘O King, must of necessity copy His
example.’
The king said that he had answered well and then inquired of the next man, What is good counsel ?
“Το act well at all times and with due reflection,’ he explained, ‘comparing what ἐς advantageous
to our own policy with the injurious effects that would result from the adoption of the opposite view,
- in order that by weighing every point we may be well advised and our purpose may be accomplished.
__ And most important of all, by the power of God every plan of yours will find fulfilment because you
_ ‘practise piety.’ :
256 The king said that this man had answered well, and asked another What is philosophy? And

᾿ς he explained, ‘To deliberate well in reference to any question that emerges and never to be carried
᾿ς away by impulses, but to ponder over the injuries that result from the passions, and to act rightly as
ἢ the circumstances demand, practising moderation. But we must pray to God to instil into our mind
᾿ς aregard for these things.’

257 +‘qThe king signified his consent and asked another How he could meet with recognition when

travelling abroad? ‘ By being fair to all men,’ he replied, ‘and by appearing to be inferior rather than

superior to those amongst whom he was travelling. For it is a recognized principle that God by

His very nature accepts the humble. And the human race loves those who are willing to be in

τ΄ subjection to them.’

258 Having expressed his approval at this reply, the king asked another How he could build in such

__ away that his structures would endure after him? And he replied to the question, ‘If his creations
were on a great and noble scale, so that the beholders would spare them for their beauty, and if he
never dismissed any of those who wrought such works and never compelled others to minister to his

9 needs without wages. For observing how God provides for the human race, granting them health

and mental capacity and all other gifts, he himself should follow His example by rendering to men

a recompense for their arduous toil. For it is the deeds that are wrought in righteousness that abide
continually.’

260 The king said that this man, too, had answered well and asked the tenth, What is the fruit of

_ wisdom? And he replied, ‘That a man should be conscious in himself that he has wrought no evil

261 and that he should live his life in the truth. Since it is from these,O mighty King, that the greatest
joy and stedfastness of soul and strong faith in God accrue to you if you rule your realm in piety.’

And when they heard the answer they all shouted with loud acclaim, and afterwards the king in the
fullness of his joy began to drink their healths.

262 Andon the next day the banquet followed the same course as on previous occasions, and when

_ the opportunity presented itself the king proceeded to put questions to the remaining guests, and

263 he said to the first, ‘ How can a man keep himself from pride?’ And he replied, ‘If he maintains
equality and remembers on all occasions that he is a man ruling over men. And God brings the
proud to nought, and exalts the meek and humble.’

264 The king spoke kindly to him and asked the next, Whom ought a man to select as his
counsellors? and he replied, ‘ Those who have been tested in many affairs and maintain unmingled
goodwill towards him and partake of his own disposition. And God manifests Himself to those who
are worthy that these ends may be attained.’

265 The king praised him and asked another, What is the most necessary possession for a king?
‘The friendship and love of his subjects,’ he replied, ‘ for it is through this that the bond of goodwill

is rendered indissoluble. And it is God who ensures that this may come to pass in accordance with

your wish.

266 The king praised him and inquired of another, What is goal of speech? And he replied, ‘ To

| 255. 38 alge what is advantageous. The meaning is not clear. I follow Wendland in supplying the clause
in italics. ackeray translates, ‘And while forming our decisions not neglecting to weigh [lit. comparing] the
injurious effects of following the opposite view.’
257. It is a recognized principle, κοινῶς, Thackeray takes the word with the latter clause only : ‘the human race
_ commonly loves, &c.

᾿ 117

THE LETTER OF ARISTEAS 266-279

convince your opponent by showing him his mistakes in a well-ordered array of arguments. For in
this way you will win your hearer, not by opposing him, but by bestowing praise upon him with
a view to persuading him. And it is by the power of God that persuasion is accomplished.’

26] The king said that he had given a good answer, and asked another How he could live amicably
with the many different races who formed the population of his kingdom? ‘ By acting the proper
part towards each,’ he replied, ‘and taking righteousness as your guide, as you are now doing with
the help of the insight which God bestows upon you.’

268 The king was delighted by this reply, and asked another ‘ Under what circumstances ought a man
to suffer grief?’ ‘In the misfortunes that befall our friends,’ he replied,‘ when we see that they
are protracted and irremediable. Reason does not allow us to grieve for those who are dead and
set free from evil, but all men do grieve over them because they think only of themselves and their
own advantage. It is by the power of God alone that we can escape all evil.’

269 The king said that he had given a fitting answer, and asked another, How is reputation lost?
And he replied, ‘When pride and unbounded self-confidence hold sway, dishonour and loss of
reputation are engendered. For God is the Lord of all reputation and bestows it where He will.’

270 +The king gave his confirmation to the answer, and asked the next man, To whom ought men to
entrust themselves? ‘To those,’ he replied, ‘who serve you from goodwill and not from fear or self-
interest, thinking only of their own gain. For the one is the sign of love, the other the mark of
ill-will and time-serving. For the man who is always watching for his own gain is a traitor at heart.
But you possess the affection of all your subjects by the help of the good counsel which God bestows
upon you.’

271. The king said that he had answered wisely, and asked another, What is it that keeps a kingdom
safe? And he replied to the question, ‘Care and forethought that no evil may be wrought by
those who are placed in a position of authority over the people, and this you always do by the help
of God who inspires you with grave judgement’,

272 The king spoke words of encouragement to him, and asked another, What is it that maintains
gratitude and honour? And he replied, ‘ Virtue, for it is the creator of good deeds, and by it evil is
destroyed, even as you exhibit nobility of character towards all by the gift which God bestows
upon you.’

213 Theking graciously acknowledged the answer and asked the eleventh (since there were two more than
seventy), How he could in time of war maintain tranquillity of soul? And he replied, ‘ By remembering
that he had done no evil to any of his subjects, and that all would fight for him in return for the
benefits which they had received, knowing that even if they lose their lives, you will care for those

274 dependent on them. For you never fail to make reparation to any—such is the kind-heartedness with
which God has inspired you.’ The king loudly applauded them all and spoke very kindly to them
and then drank a long draught to the health of each, giving himself up to enjoyment, and lavishing
the most generous and joyous friendship upon his guests.

275 On the seventh day much more extensive preparations were made, and many others were present
from the different cities (among them a large number of ambassadors). When an opportunity }
occurred, the king asked the first of those who had not yet been questioned How he could avoid \

276 being deceived dy fallacious reasoning ? and he replied, ‘ By noticing carefully the speaker, the thing
spoken, and the subject under discussion, and by putting the same questions again after an interval
in different forms. But to possess an alert mind and to be able to form a sound judgement in every
case is one of the good gifts of God, and you possess it, O King.’

211] The king loudly applauded the answer and asked another, Why is it that the majority of men
never become virtuous? ‘Because,’ he replied, ‘all men are by nature intemperate and inclined to

278 pleasure. Hence, injustice springs up and a flood of avarice. The habit of virtue is a hindrance
to those who are devoted to a life of pleasure because it enjoins upon them the preference of
temperance and righteousness. For it is God who is the master of these things.’

279 The king said that he had answered well, and asked, What ought kings to obey? And he said,
‘ The laws, in order that by righteous enactments they may restore the lives of men. Even as you

paths <a ED eemeanitar nani te “γνῷ γα τὴν “τονε

266. by showing him his mistakes, &c., or ‘ pointing out his errors by means of the chain of arguments which he
has formulated’ (Thackeray).

273. in return for the benefits, or ‘for the glory of rendering thee service’ (Thackeray).

for those dependent on them, τῶν βίων, or ‘for their welfare’ (Thackeray).

277. by nature intemperate. Aristeas has no developed doctrine of original sin but he lays stress on the natural
bias or yezer in human nature, cp. § 108, 222f. His clear enunciation of this view is remarkable, because there is little
reference to the yezer in Alexandrian literature. Tennant says that he is unable to find ‘any certain proof that the
yeser doctrine was adopted by the Alexandrian’ (7e Fall and Original Sin, p. 138). It is of course common in
Sirach and Palestinian literature.

Oe Ὁςὦοὕὐυν ψιτωννον, “. ἝΝ, as ny

118

THE LETTER OF ARISTEAS 279-291

by such conduct in obedience to the Divine command have laid up in store for yourself a perpetual

memorial.’

The king said that this man, too, had spoken well, and asked the next, Whom ought we to appoint
as governors? And he replied, ‘All who hate wickedness, and imitating your own conduct act
righteously that they may maintain a good reputation constantly. For this is what you do,
O mighty King,’ he said, ‘and it is God who has bestowed upon you the crown of righteousness.’

The king loudly acclaimed the answer and then looking at the next man said, ‘ Whom ought we
to appoint as officers over the forces?’ And he explained, ‘Those who excel in courage and
righteousness and those who are more anxious about the safety of their men than to gain a victory by
risking their lives through rashness. For as God acts well towards all men, so too you in imitation
of Him are the benefactor of all your subjects.’

82 The king said that he had given a good answer and asked another, What man is worthy of
admiration? And he replied, ‘The man who is furnished with reputation and wealth and
power and possesses a soul equal to it all. You yourself show by your actions that you are most
worthy of admiration through the help of God who makes you care for these things.’

3 The king expressed his approval and said to another ‘To what affairs ought kings to devote most
time?’ And he replied, ‘To reading and the stwdy of the records of official journeys, which are
written in reference to the various kingdoms, with a view to the reformation and preservation of the
subjects. And it is by such activity that you have attained to a glory which has never been

τς approached by others, through the help of God who fulfils all your desires.’

84 The king spoke enthusiastically to the man and asked another How ought a man to occupy

himself during his hours of relaxation and recreation? And he replied, ‘To watch those plays

which can be acted with propriety and to set before one’s eyes scenes taken from life and enacted

285 with dignity and decency is profitable and appropriate. For there is some edification to be found

even in these amusements, for often some desirable lesson is taught by the most insignificant affairs

of life. But by practising the utmost propriety in all your actions, you have shown that you are

a philosopher and you are honoured by God on account of your virtue.’

The king, pleased with the words which had just been spoken, said to the ninth man, How ought
a man to conduct himself at banquets? And he replied, ‘You should summon to your side men
of learning and those who are able to give you useful hints with regard to the affairs of your
kingdom and the lives of your subjects (for you could not find any theme more suitable or more
287 educative than this) since such men are dear to God because they have trained their minds to
it the noblest themes—as you indeed are doing yourself, since all your actions are

POT

directed by God.’
Delighted with the reply, the king inquired of the next man, What is best for the people?
That a private citizen should be made king over them or a member of the royal family? And he
9 teplied, ‘He who is best by nature. For kings who come of royal lineage are often harsh and
severe towards their subjects. And still more is this the case with some of those who have risen
3 from the ranks of private citizens, who after having experienced evil and borne their share of
290 poverty, when they rule over multitudes turn out to be more cruel than the godless tyrants. But,
_ 451 have said, a good nature which has been properly trained is capable of ruling, and you are
a great king, not so much because you excel in the glory of your rule and your wealth but rather

because you have surpassed all men in clemency and philanthropy, thanks to God who has endowed
you with these qualities.’

291 The king spent some time in praising this man and then asked the last of all, What is the

ἢ

280. crown of righteousness, cf. 2 Tim. ἵν. 8. The phrase is also found in the Zestaments of the Twelve Patriarchs
(T.Levi viii. 1) where it is used of the crown of the High Priest.
281. risking. MSS. read περιβάλλοντας, which Schmidt has emended into παραβάλλοντας.
ie, a soul equal to it all, or ‘yet inwardly regards himself as on an equality with all men’
(Thackeray).
who makes you care, διδόντος εἰς ταῦτα τὴν ἐπιμέλειαν, This isthe reading of the MSS., but Wendland prefers
to emend ἐπιμέλειαν into ἐπιτέλειαν. ‘Who grants you the capacity for attaining these things.’
283. the records of official journeys. [Illustrations of these travel-diaries or acta diurna are to be found in the
Papyri as Wendland points out. See Wilcken, article on ὑπομνηματισμοί in Phzlologus, 1111. 80 ff.
written in reference to the kingdoms. Mendelssohn reads τοὺς βασιλεῖς for τὰς βασιλείας, ‘ written for kings.’
284. is profitable and appropriate, following the suggestion of Mendelssohn to read βίῳ σύμφορον καὶ καθῆκον for
the MSS. βιοῖ (βιοῖς) σωφρονῶν καὶ κατέχων, which cannot be translated without infringing the canons of Greek syntax.
286. give you useful hints, reading with Wendland χρήσιμα for χρήματα.
more suitable or ... educative, ἐμμελέστερον ἢ μουσικώτερον, Thackeray renders ‘No more harmonious or
Sweeter music could’st thou find’.
288. king over them, reading ἐπ᾽ αὐτῶν (Wendland) for ὑπ᾽ αὐτῶν ‘appointed by them’.
He who is best, reading τὸν ἄριστον (with Schmidt) for τὸ ἄριστον.
291. some time. Wendland attaches this phrase to the previous clause.

119

THE LETTER OF ARISTEAS 291-306

greatest achievement in ruling an empire? And he replied, ‘ That the subjects should continually
dwell in a state of peace, and that justice should be speedily administered in cases of dispute:

292 These results are achieved through the influence of the ruler, when he is a man who hates evil and
loves the good and devotes his energies to saving the lives of men, just as you consider injustice the
worst form of evil and by your just administration have fashioned for yourself an undying reputation,
since God bestows upon you a mind which is pure and untainted by any evil.’

293 And when he ceased, loud and joyful applause broke out for some considerable time. When
it stopped the king took a cup and gave a toast in honour of all his guests and the words which they
had uttered. Then in conclusion he said, ‘I have derived the greatest benefit from your presence.

294 I have profited much by the wise teaching which you have given me in reference to the art of ruling”
Then he ordered that three talents of silver should be presented to each of them, and appointed one
of his slaves to deliver over the money. All at once shouted their approval, and the banquet
became a scene of joy, while the king gave himself up to a continuous round of festivity.

295 I have written at length and must crave your pardon, Philocrates. J was astonished beyond
measure at the men and the way in which on the spur of the moment they gave answers which

296,really needed a long time to devise. For though the questioner had given great thought toeach
particular question, those who replied one after the other had their answers to the questions
ready at once and so they seemed to me and to all who were present and especially to the philosophers
to be worthy of admiration. And I suppose that the thing will seem incredible to those who will __

297 read my narrative in the future. But it is unseemly to misrepresent facts which are recorded
in the public archives. And it would not be right for me to transgress in such a matter as this.

I tell the story just as it happened, conscientiously avoiding any error. I was so impressed by the
force of their utterances, that I made an effort to consult those whose business it was to make ᾿

298 ἃ record of all that happened at the royal audiences and banquets. For it is the custom, ἃ5 you
know, from the moment the king begins to transact business until the time when he retires to rest,
for a record to be taken of all his sayings and doings—a most excellent and useful arrangement.

299 For on the following day the minutes of the doings and sayings of the previous day are read over
before business commences, and if there has been any irregularity, the matter is at once set right. 4

300 I obtained therefore, as has been said, accurate information from the public records, and I have set
forth the facts in proper order since I know how eager you are to obtain useful information. Ϊ

301 Three days later Demetrius took the men and passing along the sea-wall, seven stadia long, to the
island, crossed the bridge and made for the northern districts of Pharos. There he assembled them
in a house, which had been built upon the sea-shore, of great beauty and in a secluded situation, and
invited them to carry out the work of translation, since everything that they needed for the purpose

302 was placed at their disposal. So they set to work comparing their several results and making
them agree,and whatever they agreed upon was suitably copied out under the direction of Demetrius.

303 And the session lasted until the ninth hour ; after this they were set free to minister to their physical

304 needs. Everything they wanted was furnished for them on a lavish scale. In addition to this
Dorotheus made the same preparations for them daily as were made for the king himself—for thus
he had been commanded by the king. In the early morning they appeared daily at the Court, and

305 after saluting the king went back to their own place. And as is the custom of all the Jews, they
washed their hands in the sea and prayed to God and then devoted themselves to reading and

306 translating the particular passage upon which they were engaged, and I put the question to them,
Why it was that they washed their hands before they prayed? And they explained that it. was
a token that they had done no evil (for every form of activity is wrought by means of the hands)
since in their noble and holy way they regard everything as a symbol of righteousness and truth.

295. [have written at length, εἶπα πλείονα. Mendelssohn suggests εἰ πεπλεόνακα (‘if I have been too prolix’) and
this emendation is accepted by Wendland and Thackeray. ;

297. I was so impressed, or ‘ after hearing with approval at their own mouth their powers of speech’ (Thackeray). }
For the allusion to the recorders see Wilcken’s article mentioned in § 283.

298. from the moment. The MSS. read ἀφ᾽ ἧς ἂν ἡμέρας for which Mendelssohn reads ὥρας. Probably, as
Thackeray suggests, the original text ran ἀφ᾽ ἧς ἂν ὁ βασιλεὺς ἄρξηται with an ellipse of ὥρας (cp. Luke vii. 45) and 5
ἡμέρας is an interpolation.

300. from the public records, or ‘ from the keepers of the public records’ (Thackeray).

301. the sea-wall. The Heptastadion or breakwater which connected Alexandria with the island of Pharos and
divided the bay into two main harbours. See the description in Strabo, xvii. 6. 792, and Botti’s map of Alexandria in
Mahaffy’s Ptolemaic Dynasty.

302. making them agree. Contrast the later traditions which represent the agreement as supernatural: See
Introduction ix on Pseudo-Justin, Cohortatio ad Graecos, Irenaeus, Clement of Alex. and Epiphanius.

304. Dorotheus is represented in § 182 as the special officer appointed to look after the needs of Jewish guests.

305. they washed their hands. For the Jewish customs of purification see Schiirer, £7, ii. 2. 109 ; the Siby/dine
Oracles, iii. 591, and the references in the New Test.: Matt. xv. 2, xxiii. 25, 26; Mark vii. 2-5; Luke xi. 38, 39.

306. every form of activity. Thackeray compares the statement of Aristobulus (ap. Eusebius, P£, viii. 10. 377 a)

120

———— a

THE LETTER OF ARISTEAS 307-316

As I have already said, they met together daily in the place which was delightful for its quiet and
its brightness and applied themselves to their task. And it so chanced that the work of translation
was completed in seventy-two days, just as if this had been arranged of set purpose.

When the work was completed, Demetrius collected together the Jewish population in the place
where the translation had been made, and read it over to all, in the presence of the translators, who
met with a great reception also from the people, because of the great benefits which they had
conferred upon them. They bestowed warm praise upon Demetrius, too, and urged him to have the
whole law transcribed and present a copy to their leaders.

After the books had been read, the priests and the elders of the translators and the Jewish
community and the leaders of the people stood up and said, that since so excellent and sacred
and accurate a translation had been made, it was only right that it should remain as it was and no
11 alteration should be made in it. And when the whole company expressed their approval, they bade

them pronounce a curse in accordance with their custom upon any one who should make any
alteration either by adding anything or changing in any way whatever any of the words which had
been written or making any omission. This was a very wise precaution to ensure that the book
might be preserved for all the future time unchanged.

2 When the matter was reported to the king, he rejoiced greatly, for he felt that the design which
he had formed had been safely carried out. The whole book was read over to him and he was
greatly astonished at the spirit of the lawgiver. And he said to Demetrius, ‘ How is it that none of
the historians or the poets have ever thought it worth their while to allude to such a wonderful

3 achievement?’ And he replied, ‘ Because the law is sacred and of divine origin. And some of those
who formed the intention of dealing with it have been smitten by God and therefore desisted from
14 their purpose.’ He said that he had heard from Theopompus that he had been driven out of his

mind for more than thirty days because he intended to insert in his history some of the incidents
from the earlier and somewhat unreliable translations of the law. When he had recovered

315 a little, he besought God to make it clear to him why the misfortune had befallen him. And it was

᾿ς revealed to him in a dream, that from idle curiosity he was wishing to communicate sacred truths to

__ common men, and that if he desisted he would recover his health. I have heard, too, from the lips

816 οἵ Theodektes, one of the tragic poets, that when he was about to adapt some of the incidents
᾿ς recorded in the book for one of his plays, he was affected with cataract in both his eyes. And when

ὥστε ai χεῖρες ἐπὶ δυνάμεως νοοῦνται θεοῦ. καὶ yap ἔστι νοῆσαι τὴν πᾶσαν ἰσχὺν τῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ τὰς ἐνεργείας ἐν ταῖς χερσὶν
εἶναι. Cp. also the reference to the Zephd//a, ὃ 159.

310. the Jewish community, τῶν ἀπὸ τοῦ πολιτεύματος. Though the Jews enjoyed the rights of citizenship at
Alexandria, they nevertheless formed an independent and separate community within the city. This community, as
Strabo (quoted by Josephus, Avs. xiv. 7. 2) tells us, was presided over by an ἐθνάρχης, ‘ who governs the people and
administers justice among them and sees that they fulfil their obligations and obey orders just like the archon of an
independent city.’ The use of the term πολίτευμα for the Jewish community is confirmed by the Berenice inscription
quoted by Schiirer, £7, ii.2. 246. It is rather striking that there should be no allusion to the ethnarch in the present
passage, and that the term πρεσβύτεροι should be used in connexion both with the translators and the community. It
almost looks as if the word ‘ ethnarch’ had accidentally dropped out.

311. They bade them, so Eusebius. The MSS. of Aristeas read ‘ He (i. e. Demetrius) gave orders’.

in accordance with their custom, cf. Deut. iv. 2, xii. 32 ; Rev. xxii. 18f. Possibly this statement may point to
the fact that at the time when the Epistle was written, the text of the LXX had begun to be tampered with. We
know that corruptions had crept into the text as early as the time of Philo, and Justin Martyr charges the Jewish
authorities with the deliberate excision of many passages ; see Swete, Jntroduction, pp. 478-9.

314. Theopompus, a Greek historian and rhetorician, born c. 380 B.C. at Chios. He became the pupil of Isocrates,
who advised him to devote himself to writing history. He lived under the protection of Alexander, and after his death
was expelled from Chios: he went to Egypt about 305 B.C., but was coldly received by Ptolemy 1. Among the writings
ascribed to him are Zhe Hellenica, The Epitome of Herodotus, The History of Philip, and several panegyrics and
hortatory addresses, the chief of which is 7he Letter to Alexander. The papyrus fragment of a Greek historian
discovered by Grenfell and Hunt is regarded by some authorities as an extract from the Hed/enica (Oxyrhynchus
ott: V,1908). He is described (Phot. Cod. 176) as a busybody (πολυπράγμων), which gives point to the meprepyarduevos
of § 315. Theopompus’ writings seem to have been characterized by a pretentious and turgid rhetoric, and a fondness
for sensational stories. The fragments which remain of his works are collected in Miiller, Frag. Hist. Graec. i, and
Ε in The Fragments of Theopompus and Cratippus (Oxford, 1909).

earlier and... unreliable translations, τινὰ τῶν προηρμηνευμένων ἐπισφαλέστερον ἐκ τοῦ νόμου προσιστορεῖν. I follow
Wendland in taking ἐπισφαλέστερον with προηρμηνευμένων. Thackeray, however, takes it with προσιστορεῖν and
translates, ‘ when he was too rashly intending to introduce into his history some of the incidents from the law which
had previously been translated.’ For the reference to Greek translations earlier than the LXX, see note on § 30.

316. Theodektes (c. 380-340 B.c.), Greek rhetorician and tragic poet, pupil of Isocrates and Plato and friend of
Aristotle, lived the greater part of his life at Athens. He is said to have been defeated by Theopompus in the contest
for the oratorical prize arranged by Artemisia, though he won the prize for tragedy. He is said to have been victorious
eight times out of thirteen dramatic contests. The fragments of his works are collected in Nauck (7vagicorum
—. Fragmenta, 1887). See monograph by C. F. Marker (Breslau, 1835), and article in Smith, Dict. Gr. and

‘om. Biog.
in the book. As Thackeray says, ‘ This seems to be the earliest use of ἡ βίβλος for a collection of sacred writings.’

121

—— tas ρα ἃς,

THE LETTER OF ARISTEAS 316-322

he perceived the reason why the misfortune had befallen him, he prayed to God for many days and
was afterwards restored.

317 And after the king, as I have already said, had received the explanation of Demetrius on this
point, he did homage and ordered that great care should be taken of the books, and that they should

318 be sacredly guarded. And he urged the translators to visit him frequently after their return to Judea,
for it was only right, he said, that he should now send them home. But when they came back, he

319 would treat them as friends, as was right, and they would receive rich presents from:him. He
ordered preparations to be made for them to return home, and treated them most munificently.
He presented each one of them with three robes of the finest sort, two talents of gold, a sideboard
weighing one talent, all the furniture for three couches.

320 And with the escort he sent Eleazar ten couches with silver legs and all the necessary equipment,
a sideboard worth thirty talents, ten robes, purple, and a magnificent crown, and a hundred pieces
of the finest woven linen, also bowls and dishes, and two golden beakers to be dedicated to God.

321 He urged him also in a letter that if any of the men preferred to come back to him, not to hinder
them. For he counted it a great privilege to enjoy the society of such learned men, and he would
rather lavish his wealth upon them than upon vanities.

322 And now Philocrates, you have the complete story in accordance with my promise. I think
that you find greater pleasure in these matters than in the writings of the mythologists. For you are
devoted to the study of those things which can benefit the soul, and spend much time upon it,
I shall attempt to narrate whatever other events are worth recording, that by perusing them you
may secure the highest reward for your zeal.

We have elsewhere βίβλος or βιβλίον διαθήκης (Ecclus. xxiv. 23; 1 Macc. i. 57), τὰ βιβλία τοῦ νόμου (1 Macc. i. 56) τὰ
βιβλία τὰ ἅγια (I Macc. xii. 9). It is possible, however, that the reference to the τὴν ἱερὰν βίβλον in 2 Macc. viii. 23 may
be earlier. Cp. also the allusion to the line as Scripture, διὰ τῆς γραφῆς in § 168.

318. they would receive rich presents, καὶ πολυδωρίας τῆς μεγίστης τεύξεσθαι. For πολυδωρίας (MSS. and Joseph.)
Mahaffy (Class. Rev. viii. 349) suggests πολυωρίας, which is adopted by Wendland and Thackeray, ‘They would meet
with the utmost consideration at his hands.’

319, 320. a sideboard, The MSS. read κυλίκιον (in both paragraphs), which generally means goblet or beaker.
Wendland suggests xvAcketov—side-board. ‘The form κυλίκιον, however, occurs in 1 Macc. xv. 32, where a piece
of furniture for supporting vessels is clearly intended, and that is probably the meaning here’ (Thackeray),

122

THE: BOOKS OF ADAM AND EVE

INTRODUCTION

δι. A SHORT ACCOUNT OF THE BOOK.

THE Book, or rather Books, which bear the name of Adam belong to a cycle of legendary
matter, of which the Jews were fond, and which the Christians took, and developed, from them.
It is hard to tell how much belongs to the original Jewish kernel.

Ginzberg (Fewish Encyc. i. 179-81, ‘ Book of Adam’), in reconstructing this, combines most of
the matter to be found in the Greek and Latin versions of the story, even including those parts
of the Latin which the editor of the Slavonic saw fit to omit.

The Book opens with the period immediately following the expulsion from paradise, which is
treated as a garden of fruit-trees; not in Heaven, but separated only by a low wall from the earth
(cf. Apoc. Mos. xvii. 1). If we endeavour to reconstruct the Greek ‘ Apocalypsis Mosis’ by the aid
of the Slavonic Life of Adam, we shall be compelled to pass over the opening sections of the Latin
‘Vita’ and begin with the dream of Eve, which follows immediately on their departure to the west,
where they sojourn eighteen years and two months, and where Cain and Abel are born. This
dream foreshadows Abel’s murder which is then related.!. The parents are overcome with grief,
τῶ comforted by the appearance of Michael, who promises them another son. After this Seth is

mm.

The story then hastens at once to the death-bed scene where Adam is lying ill, surrounded by
his sixty-three children, whom he intends to bless before he dies. Seth is distressed and surprised
at his condition, for pain and sickness is to him a thing unknown. Adam tells the story of his fall
and God’s curse upon him. Adam’s cries of woe rouse Seth to action, and at his father’s request

_ he undertakes to go with Eve to the gate of paradise, there to pray God to give him oil from the

Tree of Life to anoint Adam. On their way they are attacked by a beast (which the Vita wrongly
calls a serpent and identifies with the devil); this is merely a sign of the beast’s revolt, which
followed the Fall (Apoc. Mos. xi). Eve is powerless before it, Seth is bitten, Vit. xxxvii. 1,

Xxxix. 2 = Apoc. Mos. xii. 1-2 (A) x. 3, but succeeds in escaping by frightening it with God’s

judgement. Their prayers for mercy are answered by a promise of a pure heart in the future, Apoc.
Mos. xiii. 3-5. The Vita turns this into a prophecy of Christ (xlii. 2).

They are told to go back, as Adam will die ‘in six days’. On their return Adam abuses Eve,
who has brought a curse on all mankind, and asks her to tell their children how she was deceived
(the Vita evades this by adding ‘ after my death’), which she proceeds to do; cf. Apoc. Mos. x, xiv,
with Vita xliv. Her fall is told in such a way as to suggest a double element in the source of the
narrative. The devil sometimes appears as the inspirer, sometimes rather as the alias of the
serpent, Apoc. Mos. xvii. The story is brought down to the time of their expulsion from paradise,
when they were comforted by a gift of perfumes, seeds for their food, and a promise of future
resurrection, Apoc. Mos. xxviii. 4, xxix.

Thereupon Eve witnesses marvellous scenes accompanying Adam’s reconciliation, but falls
asleep when God comes down to paradise before the burial of Adam.

In answer to the prayer of the angels Adam is pardoned, and his soul given to Michael to be
cleansed in the Acherusian stream, Apoc. Mos. xxxvii-xxxix, and kept in paradise till the end of
the times, when a resurrection is promised. His body is then buried by the archangels in the
neighbourhood of the earthly paradise, Apoc. Mos. xl-xliii = Vita xlviii.

The book ends with a typical Jewish admonition given by Michael, Israel’s guardian angel, to
Seth not to mourn on the Sabbath day, Vita li, Apoc. Mos. xviii; cf. Jubilees ii. 23, &c.

Chapters xxviii-xl of the Slavonic Vita are in reality a recension of the same subject-matter
of the Latin Vita i-x. It deals with the penitence of Adam and Eve and the second temptation of
Eve by Satan, and chapters xii—xvii of the Latin Vita explain the envy and fall of Satan.

The Vita also inserts before Eve’s death an account of her directions to Seth concerning
memorials of her life, which are mentioned by Josephus. Lastly, this version expands in non-

1 According to the Slavonic, Adam dreams this dream before the birth of his children.
123

τὰς
\

“
Ἂς

THE BOOKS OF ADAM AND EVE

ascetic Jewish tone the story of Cain’s birth. Ginzberg (contrary to Israel Levi) seems to have
established the Jewish nature of all these pieces. I have given elsewhere my reasons for believing
they never formed one book with the rest of the Apoc. Mos.

Two more pieces remain. These are Vit. xxv-xxx—Adam’s vision of the future, seen after
he ‘had eaten of the tree of knowledge’, and ending in a specifically Christian prophecy. The other
in the Slav. Vit. xxxiii is strongly dualistic in tone, and is taken by Jagi¢ to be a mediaeval inter-
polation by a writer of the Bogomilian heresy.

For other versions of the story, see ‘ Ancient Versions,’ § 4.

§ 2. TITLE OF THE BOOKs.

The title ‘Apocalypsis Mosis’ (Tischendorf, 1866, Ceriani) is an erroneous one; it perhaps
arose through a confusion with the book of ‘ Jubilees’, which was a revelation to Moses through the
Angel of the Presence (Jub. i. 29, 11. 1). Cf. heading to Apoc. Mos. (A B C D-Arm. slight variations
only). See Fuchs in Kautzsch, Apok. und Pseud. ii. 507.

Still less can ‘ Apocalypsis Seth’ (Hort) be original. The ‘Sethite’ character of these books,
which is much exaggerated in the case of the Armenian by Preuschen, is reduced to a minimum in
the case of the oldest text (cf. Kabisch Liechtenhan in ZV7W.,-Giessen, 1903, 1906).

Ἂς It is not the same as the ‘ Apocalypsis’ = ‘Testament of Adam’ (M. R. James, Renan) in

Syriac, Coptic, and Greek Fragment.
atin and Russian versions simply ‘ Vita Adae et Evae’, to be carefully distinguished from

*Contitict of Adam and Eve’ (in Ethiopic), Dillmann and Trumpp’s Adambuch des Morgenlandes.

According to Ginzberg (Few. Encyc. i. 179), the statement of Zunz, Gottesdienstliche Vortraége
der Fuden,eas to the mention of a Hebrew ‘ Book of Adam’ in the Talmud, from Aboda Zarah 5a,
Gen. R. xxiv. 5, is incorrect, though such a book must have existed whatever its name. Moreover,
Zunz mentions ‘Also Baba Mezia 86 a—Wajjikra rabb. 181 Ὁ, Midrash Koheleth 84a in support of
a book of Adam εἰ the beginning of the third century. Fuchs supposes that the original was the
work of a Hellenistita, Jew in language influenced by the LX X, Ginzberg would say in Aramaic.

The book in its mediaeval form, and connected with a ‘Lignum Crucis’ (Holy Rood) legend,
had an extensive circulation .in the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries, not only in England,
Germany, and Russia, but in btlgaria, Italy, and Servia, &c., being translated into many languages.
The original of these translations 1S nearly always the Latin, not the Greek form of the story. The
exception is the Slavonic version extanv in two recensions, which are probably composed out of two
or more independent tales. See § 6.

§ 3. ἘῊΕ MSS.

1° Apoc. Mosis. Six MSS. are at present known orf the Apoc. Mosis.
A Venice. Thirteenth century. |
B Vienna. Twelfth to fourteenth centuries. Tischendorf.
C Vienna. Twelfth to fourteenth cencuries.

D Milan. Eleventh century. Ceriani.
E! Paris. Fifteenth century. 5
ΕΣ Montpellier. } Fuchs.

The names are those of Ceriani, Tischendorf,and Fuchs. I wwe my knowledge of the different
readings of ΕΖ and ἘΠ to the great kindness of Dr. Fuchs, who pl.aced all his notes at my disposal.
The knowledge of the other MSS. is derived from Tischendorf, Apu. Apocryphac, 1866,and Ceriani,
Monumenta, v. 1.

It will be observed that all these MSS. are more or less fragmentary with the exception of Ὁ,
This, however, is often obscure. A, though nearly complete till xxxvr, is rightly regarded by Fuchs
as very untrustworthy, and is much spoilt by glosses, Apoc. Mos. xvi. 2, xiv. 2, xxiv. 3, xxviii. 3,
xxxii. 4, even whilé it preserves some good readings, especially xxii. 2 (‘judgement’), and retains
Apocalypse in xiii, which I believe to be original, and elsewhere lost ‘through influence of Latin
version. \

D, where it is to be had (i-xvi,xxxvi-xliv) seems the safest to follow ; but it appears, especially
at the end, to aim too much at clearness and classical Greek, and I have often found myself
suspecting that the less easy and more clumsy sentences of C had a closer affinity with the original
text ; even though conscious that in so doing I have been compelled to depart from the precedent
set by Dr. Fuchs, whose work marks an epoch in the study of this literature, and to whom
I owe much.

124

INTRODUCTION

Besides D, like B, though to a less extent, is not above filling up the gaps from the Scriptures
(cf. Apoc. Mos. ix. 2, &c.), and altering phrase or word to correspond with a biblical text (Apoc.
Mos. viii. 1-2,.&c.).

E, like B, is often redundant and diffuse. Its chief interest lies in its very near relationship to
the Armenian Version, with which it often agrees against all the others; if not the source of that
translation, it is very closely related to it.

In the following translation, I have taken D and C as the chief guides, but, where they are
unsatisfactory, have often thought it wiser to follow one of the others. Cf. xxvi.4 (AB), xxix. 5 (E).
I agree with Fuchs that the construction of the true text is ‘schwierig’ and largely guesswork, but
- have adopted no reading without comparing all MSS.

2° Vita Adae et Evae. Numerous MSS. and versions exist of the Latin Vita, which Meyer
has divided into four classes.

Cod. Arund., 326. 10, which I have seen at the British Museum, seems to belong to Class II
and contains the additional paragraph describing Solomon’s finding of the tables,

To Class III, which contains ‘legend of the holy rood’ in an expanded form, belong most of
the mediaeval versions, e. g. Deutsches Adam-Buch, ‘ Herlwin’, and others.

Meyer’s text from which I have translated is based principally on Class I, and omits all the
additions in the other classes. Where I have departed from it, I have noted the fact.

Class IV. The text of the Paris MSS. of the eighth or ninth century, often abbreviated and
corrupt, is interesting if it is, as Meyer believes, an autograph of the tutor of Charles Martel and
shows the early interest taken in the book, It is occasionally used and forms one of the authorities
for the text of the long interpolation in Vit. xxix.

7
|
s
Η
.
Ἰ

δ4. THE ANCIENT VERSIONS OF THE ADAM BOOKS.

1° Armenian. Besides those of the Latin Vita we have two others of the Apoc. Mosis. First,

_ the Armenian (translated by Conybeare in ¥QR., 1895, vol. vii; Preuschen, Armen.-Gunostische

_ Adam-Schriften, 1904) is based on three MSS. in the library of Etschmiadzin. This has been

__ published by Mechitarist Fathers at Venice, and contains an edited and expanded version of the

tale. Most of the additions and verbal alterations, especially those not already found in E, are in a

! Gnostic direction, and their presence as well as that of other similar Gnostic works on Seth, &c., has

____ led Preuschen to suggest a Gnostic origin for the whole Adam literature, which is an untenable

j hypothesis. The present Arm. text is from a Gk. MS. akin to E.

Η The names of herbs in xxix. 6 are transliterations of the Greek. Sea ‘not made with hands’

(ἀχειροποίητον) is a scribal emendation of (Apoc. Mos, xxxvii. 3) ᾿Αχερουσίαν; cf. ‘ Hojil’ for ‘ Jael’ in

Apoc. Mos, xxix. 7.

2° Slavonic. The Slavonic has been edited with Latin and German translations by Jagi¢ from nine

_ MSS. It presents longer and shorter (South Slav.) recensions of the same book. (Denkschriften d.

Wiener Akad. Wissensch., Phil.-Hist. Kl., xlii, Vienna, 1893). Jagié is convinced that these are

from the same original. The present version is closely parallel to the Greek from which, like the

Armenian (Kabisch), it is evidently translated ; but at xxxvii, Eve goes on to tell a tale of penance

in the water on the lines of that described in Vita i—xii, though with many significant variations,

e.g. £44’ for £37’ (Slav. Vit. xxxv. 3). The devil’s story of his own Fall, Vit. xii—xviii, is left out, but

another incident of the devil claiming rule over man (Slav. Vit. xxxiii-xxxiv), strongly dualistic

and perhaps connected with Bogomilian heresy, takes its place. The end of the book is very

abbreviated and several passages are rudely Christianized by a phrase, 6. g. xlvi. 1 (‘Christ’), xlvii. 3

(‘Sign of the Cross’), 1. 1.

The misunderstanding of the old Hebrew name of Jah-El had led to the creation of a new and
imaginary angel named ‘ Joel’ (see notes). While the beast who attacks the penitents is described
not as a serpent but a ‘cotur’, which Vollmer (Deutsches Adam-Buch, 1908) would translate as felis
= ‘a cat.’

j The old Jewish ending in praise of the Sabbath (Apoc. Mos. xliii = Vita li) is obscured.

i 3° Christian and Gnostic. Besides these Christian editions of the Jewish original, numerous

other versions of the Adam tales exist, to which a Christian or Gnostic author can definitely be
assigned.

: Such are the Gnostic ‘ Testament’ or ‘ Apocalypse of Adam ’—the two names belong to two
recensions—in Syriac and Arabic, rightly mentioned by Renan as the piece referred to in Gelasius’
decree, ‘Liber qui appellatur Penitentia Adae Apocryphus,’ Renan thinks its liturgy of ‘the
hours’ became through Coptic and then Apost. Constitutions, viii-xxiv, a chief source for
determining the ‘Canonical Hours’.

ον

125

THE ΒΟΟΚΘ .ΟΕ ADAM AND EVE

It is probable that this book (which is mainly concerned with an elaborate breviary and
angelology) has borrowed from the Apoc. Mos. xxxvi-xl its account of the gloom of sun and
moon after Adam’s death and the funeral carried out by the ‘ virtues’ (cf. Vita Ad. xxi), It has
been used in turn by the Ethiopic Adam Book, which follows it in bringing the story down to the
prophecy of Christ, of whom Seth, not Adam, is regarded as the prototype (cf. Gloss in Slav. Vita,
xlvi). This latter has taken largely from a Syriac work, The Cave of Treasure, translated by Bezold
into German, Die Schatshohle. Hort supposed this might be derived from the Ethiopic, but
this is very unlikely. Both these works are strongly Christian and plainly ascetic. In both,
‘sons of God’ (Gen. vi. 1) = ‘sons of Seth’. Holiness consists in celibacy.

All these later works differ from our books in making Adam’s life and death but a starting-
point for further chronicles, prophecies, and expectations of later ages. In the last two, the point of
Adam’s death lies in the history of the fortunes of his corpse in its progress to Mount Calvary. This
is embalmed and placed in a cave with the treasures the Magi are to bring to the second
Adam (this is the new version of the fragrant herbs for which Adam made request in the Apoc.
Mosis xxix).

The Conflict’ is the latest and most elaborate, but this work and the Schatshdhle are entirely
Christian, and wholly unlike our works, though they employ very little new material.

§5. DATE OF ORIGINAL TEXT.

Terminus ad quem. Frequently the principal means of ascertaining the date of ancient
books is the nature of the ideas which appear in their pages. In the case of the Books of Adam
as in the ‘ Odes’ of Solomon historical allusions are conspicuously absent. The chief, if not the only
criterion of date, is the relation of religious notions to those of other works. Still we are in a position
at once to place the composition both of the Apoc. Mos. and the Vita Adae before the appearance
of the Ethiopic Adambuch (dated to seventh century by Dillmann and Malan ; fifth century by
Charles, 2 En., Intro. § 5, p. xviii) which borrows largely from both; and also before the Armenian
version which dates, perhaps, from a period before 360(Preuschen). The mention of the Acherusian
lake (Apoc. Mos. xxxvii. 3) is perhaps the original of the Apoc. Pauli xxii which was ‘ revealed’ in
A.D. 380 (Tisch.), Charles (Excycl. Brit., ii. 175) dates it A.D. 388 from internal evidence.

Meyer thinks the Vita Adae xlii (= Ev, Nicodemi xix of A. D. 405-50) was a later interpolation
into the text of Vita which existed before. Bousset thinks that the interpolation in Vita xxix,
‘maior quam prius,’ is part of a Jewish Apocalypse to which a Christian has added a long piece
(like a gloss). If so, he thinks it refers to Herod’s temple, which was built in the author's lifetime.
For another view of this, see my note zz Joc.

Only general considerations remain to fix the date more exactly, but they are the most
important. We have ample evidence to prove (1) that the contents are Jewish; (2) that the
tone and temper is earlier than the Golden Age of the Rabbis, e.g. it has no polemic against the
Christians ; (3) that the Theology and Eschatology are that of the later Judaism and akin to that
of the 2 Enoch.

There is little doubt that the author of the Apoc. Mos. is indebted to the latter book, or the
school where it originated, for some of his most characteristic traits, e.g. its conception of the Tree
of Life and of the sacred oil (cf. 2 Enoch viii. 3), the sin of Eve, and the lake of purification, the
‘seven Heavens’, &c. His relation to the older books of Enoch is more remote and his angelology
is more developed than even that in the ‘ Parables’ (1 Enoch xxxvii-Ixxi). The Demonology
outside the Vita xiii-xvii is of a pre-Christian type, and Kabisch may be right in claiming that
2 Cor. xi. 14 is quoted from our text or more likely from the source of our text. Of the angelology
and the eschatology, especially the doctrine of the Heavens, the same is true. See δὲ 7-9.

It is equally certain that the Book (apart from brief interpolations and possibly Vita xxv-xxix)
is of purely Jewish origin. As Ginzberg, Kabisch, and Fuchs unanimously declare, there is absolutely
nothing specifically Christian in the contents. Many of the cited Christian phrases, e.g. ‘son of
wrath’ (Apoc. Mos: iii. 2), are Hebraisms and in accordance with Rabbinic usage. (Cf. Hort’s list
with Ginzberg’s article, ‘Book of Adam, in ¥ew. Encyc.) The complete absence of references,

Δ In Conflict, Bk. i, the following appear to be derived from the Apoc. Mos. and the Vita:—vi, xvii = Apoc.
Mos. xxxvii (Acherusian lake); xxviii = Apoc. Mos. vi. 2, xxix. 3; Vita xxxi. 1; v. xx = Apoc. Mos. xlii. 4; vi = Vita
ΧΙ, xvili, xv. 3; cf. Koran Sura ii. 30; xviii = Vita xxxvii-xl; ix, xxi = Vita iii. 1; xvii = Apoc. Mos. xvi; xxxii,
xxxili = Vita vi-x; xxxvii = Vita xxxvi. 2; Apoc. Mos. ix. 3; xxxviii, 2 = Vita xlii = Evangel Nicodemi xix. 1; xlv.
9 = Apoc. Mos. x. 1-2, xi. 2; Vita xxxvii. 2, xxviii. 2; xxxix = Vita iv. 2, ν. 2.

The ‘water of life’ in Com/iict is not referred to in Apoc. Mos, or in Vita (save interpolation in Vita xxix), It
is Christian substitute for ‘oil of life’? (Apoc. Mos. ix, xiii, xxviii; Vita xxxvi, xl-xlii).

126

tm — ia a lg A AB

rae

. INTRODUCTION

direct or indirect, to Christian notions of Incarnation, Redemption, even of Christian higher moral
teaching, would make it impossible to assign to most of the work a Christian origin. The startling
abruptness of Christian interpolations serves, as in the case of Test. Twelve Patriarchs passim, to clinch
the argument from silence ; which is the stronger, since the doctrine of a future judgement and
future resurrection is clearly taught (Apoc. Mos. x, xii, xiii, xxviii, xxxvii, xli, xliii, Vita xxxix,
xlvii, li) ; even though the Messiah plays no part and no judge other than God is mentioned. The
Resurrection is rather connected in both the Vita and the Apoc. Mos. with the weekly rest of the
Sabbath. Cf. Apoc. Mos. xliii, Vita li with Jub. iii. 17. Nor can Preuschen’s theory of a Gnostic
(Sethite) origin for these pieces be accepted, even in the case of the Armenian version (though
we have sought to show in the notes how this version has been subsequently modified in a Sethite
direction on the lines of ‘the Gospel of Seth’ and other Adam legends preserved only in Armenian,
which have so largely modified Preuschen’s conclusion) ; see his Adam Books, ii-vii. See ὃ.
Terminus a quo. Wort was ready to admit a date anywhere in the first three centuries for the
᾿ Apoc. Mos. It seems certain that the whole material contained in our Adam Books belongs to a
period not earlier than the first century A.D. or later than the fourth century ; but the uniform
_ absence of polemic against the Christians, the wide and tolerant view of the future of the Gentiles,
_ the conception of Adam’s or rather Eve’s sin (so nearly akin to that in Paul and 4 Ezra), the old
simple hopes of the future Resurrection, the glaring dissimilarity of the Christian interpolated
_ passages (Vita xlii, xxix ; Apoc. Mos. xliii-end, xxxvi—-end, A only) render the earlier date far the
more probable for the bulk of the work. The absence of any Messiah in the future prospects (see § 9)
is yet another link with the 2 Enoch, and points not obscurely to an author of ‘the Dispersion’,
perhaps in Alexandria. Since it is certain that both the Latin, the Slavonic, and the Armenian, are
from a Greek original, though ultimately parts of the book may be based on Hebrew documents
_ (see § 55), seeing that the text is strongly coloured by Hebrew words and phrases, a further proof is
forthcoming that the author or authors were Jewish Hellenists. For the date of the several parts,
or books, included in this material, and especially for the relation of the Greek Apoc. Mos. to the
Latin Vita, see § 6.

δ 5%. DATE OF VERSIONS OF THE ADAM BOOKS.

Armenian, The MSS. in the library of Etschmiadzin were written by Mechitarist fathers in
1539. Preuschen ascribes the earliest translation in Armenian to an Archontic heretic Eutaktus in
360, but this is bound up with his view of the Gnostic character of these works. Conybeare would
admit a date in fifth century.

Slavonic. Jagi¢ ascribes the earliest of these MSS. to a date not later than the fourteenth
century, but the existence of a second Bulgarian recension probably derived from it renders this
date none too early. Both are from the Greek, much modified by similar tales in the Russian
* Palaea’, the Bohemian ‘ Life of Adam’ (containing also parts of the Vita absent here), and other
Polish and Slavonic Adam tales of the sixteenth century.

Syriac. ‘The Cave of Treasure. Bezold assigns the Schatzhdhle to sixth century. Un-
doubtedly written in Syriac, which language it declares to be ‘ the queen of tongues’, the speech’ of
paradise and of Heaven. Written not by S. Ephraem but by a Christian and one of his disciples.
Hort thinks this and ‘ Conflict’ are based on fourth century traditions.

Syriac and Arabic. ‘The Apocalypse or Testament of Adam. Probably not later than
fourth century. Decret. Gelasii-Liicke, Offenbarung des Fohannes, i. 232, referred to by Syncell.
Chron. xviii, Cedren. 1. In Syriac, Arabic and Greek fragment. Renan decides it is early Gnostic.
Hort says not Gnostic but ‘lies outside Greek and Latin Christianity’.

Ethiopic. ‘Conflict of Adam and Eve.’ From Ethiopic (Kraft’s) MSS. Since the author of
the ‘Conflict of Adam and Eve’ criticises Syrians, Greeks and Hebrews, he was none of these
(Hort). Dillmann assigns it to the seventh, Charles to the sixth century. The original was Arabic.

ospel of Eve. A Gnostic work describing Eve’s seduction by Satan and the birth of Cain and
Abel, sons of Satan (the Serpent). Epiphanius, adv. Haereses, xxvi. Date uncertain. Fabricius,
Cod. Pseudepigr. Vet. Test. i. 95. (1712.)

Armenian Adam Books bound up in MSS. with Armen. Version of the Vita Adae, treated as

one, by Preuschen, include ‘ Gospel of Seth ’, ‘Words of Adam to Seth’, ‘ Tale of the Sons of Adam’,
| *Tale of the penance of Adam and Eve’, ‘ Death of Adam’, ‘ Tale of the Creation of Adam and
Eve’, ‘ Tale of the Expulsion of Adam and Eve.’ Compare Story of Satan’s trick in ‘ Tale of the
_ Expulsion of Adam and Eve’ with Slav. Vita Ad. xxxi, xxxii.
All these are Christian, or Gnostic anti-Jewish pieces (in ‘Death of Adam’, Jerusalem is called
_ ‘place of the fallen angels’), and are far more akin to the ‘ Conflict’, especially in attitude to celibacy,
_ than to the Armenian Version of Apoc. Mos. Probably this latter was modified to agree with them.
127

THE BOOKS OF ADAM AND EVE

Seth is here always the hero, Satan’s fall is narrated, and history brought down to Christ as in
other Christian books. The Trinity is definitely and crudely taught. Preuschen’s derivation from
Archontic heretics through Eutaktus A.D. 360 may be right. (Cf. Epiphanius, adv. Haer. x\-xlvi.)
They show a complete knowledge of the contents of the Apoc. Mos. and the Vita (except i-xii).

§ 6. COMPOSITE NATURE OF THE TEXT.

The Problems. Τὶ is plain at first glance, that the three versions with which we are here
concerned, though exhibiting a great deal of unity, are also in some respects strikingly divergent.
In § 1 we found that to the main narrative in Apoc. Mos. a number of separate pieces are attached
both in the Slav. and Latin versions! of the legend. Before discussing the nature and origin of
these, we must pause to justify the position. 1°. That the Apoc. Mos. and not the Vita is the main
narrative. 2°. That this story possesses a unity of its own which is disturbed by the addition of the
separate legends referred to.

Both positions have been and will be challenged ; and it must be admitted that neither can be
proved to demonstration. The defence of the first is based on Dr. Fuchs’ masterly essay in his
introduction to these books. He seeks to show that (4) the material of the Apoc. Mos. was certainly
before the editor of the Vita. It may further be urged (4) that the Vita was unknown or at least
unemployed by the author of the Apoc. Mos.

(a) It is hard to see how any careful reader of the books can deny this first proposition. From
xxix-li the Vita is little more than a condensed abstract of the picturesque and extravagant
descriptions of the Apoc. Mos. To suppose that these represent a working up of the earlier simple
language of the Vita seems to be a direct misunderstanding of the methods and style of Jewish
Apocalyptic, as they appear in all the mass of literature which still remains. Moreover, if these
phantasies are a later production, despite the countless parallels in Rabbinical and Apocalyptic
literature, some few of which are adduced in our notes, how is it that they have received so faint
a colouring from their presumably Christian authors? In $9 it is intended to illustrate the purely
Jewish nature of the theology which these sections exhibit even down to the fact that Jehovah still
bears his ancient name; that marriage is still regarded as a holy thing, and not denounced as by the
monks who wrote romances for Christians. Besides, the Vita, though it omits Eve’s tale (Apoc.
Mos. xv-xxx) in its proper place, has incorporated practically the whole of the material therein con-
tained; thus the division of paradise into two parts for Adam and Eve (Vita xxxii. 2) is taken from
Apoc. Mos. xv. 2; Vita xi-xvii seems almost like an expansion of Apoc. Mos. xvi. 4 ; Vita xliv contains
preface to Eve’s tale, only postponed by three additional words, ‘after my death’; but the most
striking fact of all is that the account of their attempt to get food in Vita v does not. prevent
Vita xliii from taking Eve’s account in Apoc. Mos. xxix; leaving out the ‘ seeds for his food’ and
delaying the events till after their quest for the oil of life, making this a sort of substitute for
that which they were ‘not to receive now’.

Lastly, the interpolation from Ev. Nicodemi replaces an obviously Jewish, if not original,
Apocalypse, in this same section of the Apoc. Mos. Since this interpolation is found in Vit.
xiii (eighth century) earliest MS. of Vita, it is of some age, though not, perhaps, in the first text.

(6) On the other hand, the present text of the Apoc. Mos. shows no trace of the special matter
peculiar to the two other versions, though this matter is of Jewish origin, as Ginzberg has shown
that it is well known in other Fewish works. The long account of the devil’s fall, not in the
Slavonic, but closely akin to the legends on which both the Slav. Palaea Historica, the Koran, and the
Mandean Book of Adam are based, presupposes a wholly different demonology to that in the Apoc.
Mos. The nearest approach is in Apoc. Mos. xxxix. 3, but ‘those who have hearkened to him’ is
most naturally taken of wicked men. The whole piece seems to be introduced through the second
failure of Eve, which is omitted even in the Slavonic, and never hinted at in the Apoc. Mos. ‘The
elaborate Midrash on Cain’s birth (Vita xvii-xxii) has no parallel in the Apoc. Mos., though it is
thoroughly Jewish and quite innocent of any doctrinal application, to which the author might have
objected. The explanation of the way Adam and Eve obtained food from God (whose object is
obscured by the new ending put on the story to find room for Satan’s narrative) is not only different
from, but inconsistent with, the story that Adam obtained this help from God by the angel’s prayers
at the time of his expulsion, Apoc. Mos. xxix, a relic of which has, as we have seen, been retained
by the Vita in a wrong connexion. The forty days’ fast in Jordan is entirely ignored in Apoc. Mos.,

1 Both these seem plainly translations from the Greek. For Slav. see δὲ 4, 5. In the Latin Vita, apart from
transliteration of Greek names of herbs (Vita xliii. 3) ‘cinnamomum et calaminthen et nardum’, there are many
Graecisms, e.g. Jlagas = πληγάς (Vita xxxiv. 1); plasma = πλάσμα (Vita xlvi. 3, cf. xxvii, 2); sindones byssinas
(xlvili. 4), σινδόνας βυσσίνας.

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INTRODUCTION

nor is fasting mentioned as a means by which Eve and Seth may induce God to grant them the
Tree of Life. The fact that this tale is amplified in the Pirke Eliezer, where forty-nine days are
assigned to it, does not even prove an early origin, for Israel Levi in QR, 1895, has shown that
this work is subsequent to the Mohammedan movement and mentions the Mosque of Omar. Early
or not, the story is ignored by the author of the Apoc. Mos., and its inclusion in the Slav. version
tends to show rather the acquaintance of the Slav. editor with several Adam books, of which the
original Greck form of the Vita may be one, for it comes very awkwardly after God has granted
to Adam ‘the seeds for his food’ ; it contrasts alike with the heretical interpolation of xxxii-xxxiii,
and the bald statement of the Vita xxii. 1 that God gave them ‘seeds for their food’ after Cain’s
birth (a new version of the Apoc. Mos. xxix). Lastly, its triumphant conclusion in the Slav. version
compels the alteration of Adam’s words to Eve at the close of her tale (Slav. Vita xl; Apoc.
Mos. xxxi).

The Peal directions of Eve concerning the tables (though the story is as old as Josephus) are
not represented in the Apoc. Mos., even though she tells her story to warn future generations
(Apoc. Mos, xxx. 1).

Vita xxv—-xxix, quite apart from the markedly Christian ending, which is probably a later gloss,
is somewhat removed in tone, temper, and theology, from the rest of the Vita, and the whole of the
Apoc. Mos. Adam and Seth are here glorified, despite a possible reference to Apoc. Mos. xxiv. 1.
Paradise is treated not as the garden of Eden, but as a celestial realm, the abode of God (Vita xxv.
3, cf. 2 Enoch viii) into which Adam is translated long before ‘the end of the times’ (Apoc. Mos.
xiii) in contradiction to the whole tenor of both the Vita and the Apoc. Mosis.!

Still more astonishing is the new attitude towards knowledge and the Tree of Knowledge, the
eating of which has brought, not death, but supernatural wisdom (xxix. 2, xxvii. 3).”

Besides these facts, the new names for God, ‘ Light, ‘ Life,’ ‘Almighty,’ ‘ Power,’ &c., the new
date for the ‘translation’* immediately after the expulsion, the abrupt entrance of the story into
the narrative, no preface or attempt to soften the break, are comparatively insignificant, though
sufficiently remarkable features. It seems possible that the author of this piece had both our works
before him—e. g. xxv. 3 seems borrowed from the account of God’s coming to paradise in Apoc.
Mos. xxii. 3, cf. xxxiii. 2—but he used them merely as ornament to his own wholly original vision,
of which the ending seems to be lost. I confess it seems strange to me that the separate nature of
this piece has not been more remarked.* It appears as if the editor of the Latin Vita put this and
other pieces together with little regard to order or probability. His object was, perhaps, merely
the collection of all the oldest legends relating to our ‘first father’.

The Apoc, Mos, is thus in our view the oldest document. This was then combined with other
Jewish legends about Adam and Eve and translated into Latin. Possibly the translator incorporated
xxv-xxix of the Vita, perhaps also xiii-xvii, from earlier Jewish sources. The addition of Christian
touches, e.g. Jordan for Gihon (Vit. vi), &c., and interpolations, such as xlii, may have been made
subsequently. Whether the Apoc. Mos. as it stands is a complete unity is a hard question. The
text is at any rate much injured and disarranged, and the original hard to find. I have taken the
liberty of altering the order in my translation of xxxix and xxxvii in deference to a suggestion in
Dr. Fuchs’ edition.

δ. 7. AUTHORSHIP.

I have attempted to show, in examining the date of these works, that the author of the original
Apocalypsis Mosis, and very probably also the editor, who put together the other legends concerning
Adam and Eve contained in the Latin Vita, was a Jew of the Dispersion writing between A. Ὁ. 60
and 300, and probably in the earliest years of this period.

The Greek text is full of Hebraic words and phrases, of which Fuchs (in Kautzsch, Apok. und
Pseud. ii. 511) gives a fairly full list ; most of these will be found mentioned in the notes with a few
others, such as the constant use of καί, where we should expect ὥστε (Deissmann, Light from
Ancient East, shows this use of ‘and’ was common in Greek popular dialect of N.T. times), and a
very frequent use of cognates, ‘ die the death’, ‘ weep with tears’, &c., or plays on words, which are
so frequent in the Old Testament and later Jewish books (see critical notes).

Perhaps the most striking of Dr. Fuchs’ examples, besides Jael (xxix-xxxiii), (Jahwe-Elohim)

? Since the Adam literature is dependent on 2 Enoch, the reference to the ‘ Paradise of Righteousness’ in this
Piece. ae "pena with its belonging to this literature. As regards Adam’s /emforary translation see note 3.
= or.

_ ἢ This idea is Judaistic and pre-Christian: cf. 1 Enoch xxxii. 6.—[Gen. Editor.]

ἢ Adam is not here finally translated but only temporarily in order to receive the revelation, The same type of
translation is found in the Books of Enoch and other Apocalypses.—[Gen, ona

* The Vision in xxv-xxix is already referred to in the Apoc. Mos. iii—[Gen. Editor.]

1105.2 129 K

THE BOOKS OF ADAM AND EVE

are ᾿Αλληλούια (xliii) ; λόγοι παρανομίας (xxi) = ‘ words of Belial’ dyxba "35 (cf. Ps. Sol. iv. 11) and
the strange names for Cain (Diaphotos or Barekhooh, or Adiaphotos I) and Abel (Amilabes see note
on i. 1): σκεῦος ἀχάριστον (xxvi. 1), ἔλαιον τοῦ ἐλέου (I confess I do not understand why Fuchs says
‘ nicht als ein Wortspiel zu beurteilen’) ; on the contrary, the parallel in Vita seems to prove this. The
curious use of the relative and the article with the infinitive in conjunction with the preposition ἐν
may stand for Hebrew 5 or even 3, e. g. xvi. 1 ῥῆμα ἐν ᾧ, cf. τρόπον ἐν (xxx. i), ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ φυλάσσειν
ἡμᾶς (xv. 2), ξύλον ἐν ᾧ ῥέει ἐξ αὐτοῦ (xiii. 2). Other Hebraisms may be exclamations such as Ἰδοὺ ἐγώ,
ii. 2 cf. 1 Sam. iii. 4-5; (ῇ 6 θεὸς ὅτι (xviii), cf. 2 Kings xi.1. The obvious error in A. M. χχν. 1 ἐν
ματαίοις (see note) is a strong evidence of a Hebrew source, also οὗ εἶπεν μὴ φαγεῖν ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ (xxi. 3).

On the other hand, most of the quotations are from LXX (Fuchs, 511 ἢ), and for Hebrew
conceptions such as ‘Gan Eden’, Sheél, Gehenna; Greek words παράδεισος, ᾿Αχερουσία (or ᾿Αχέρουσα)
are employed, or phrases, 6. g. τὸν τόπον τοῦτον (Apoc. Mos, xxxix).

Dr. Fuchs seems to rest his faith on an Aramaic original from which his Hellenist has trans-
lated; or a supposed ‘ Book of Adam’, containing all existing traditions on the subject. If such
existed, it was probably not the work of a single author. For any nearer determination of the
author’s place and time, our only guide is the author’s literary connexion with other works whose
date is approximately known. Since a fuller treatment of the theology of this work is given in
§ 9, while its influence on subsequent writings is discussed in § 8, it must suffice here to point out
some of the links connecting it with earlier literature. It is, as we have seen, a commentary on the
ancient books of the Law written from a didactic standpoint. As such it belongs to a period when
reflection on the Old Testament narratives had passed through a considerable process of develop-
ment and reached some striking conclusions as to the real events connected with ‘the Fall’ and its
consequences upon the race of men. The blessing of deliverance from this curse (not restricted as
in the Palestinian 4 Ezra to the Jews, but extended to all men) is taught as a hope in the future,
but it is not connected with a Messiah, (This omission is of course soon supplied by Christian
interpolators in Slav. and Latin versions.) There is, therefore, no polemic in the book, though it
moves in the circle of ideas familiar to readers of Paul and 4 Ezra (cf. 4 Ezra iii. 21, iv. 30, vii. 118),
esp. Apoc. Mos. x. 2, xiv. 2 (cf. Rom. v. 12-14); but a ‘Christ’ as either the Jews or the Christians
expected him is wholly ignored (whereas in 4 Ezra vii he is attacked); as he is in the 2 Enoch.
As in Paul, the mercy of God (quite unlike 4 Ezra and Apoc. Bar.) is repeatedly dwelt on, but God
pities man ‘because he made him’ (Apoc. Mos. xxxvii. 2), not because ‘ Christ died for him’ ;
cf. Rom. iv. 25, 30.

(Only in Apoc. Mos. xxviii is a condition attached to the promise of Resurrection, ‘if thou
shouldst keep thyself from all evil, but this is not to be compared with the doctrine of works of
merit as it is taught in Apoc. Baruch; cf. esp. Apoc. Bar. xiv. 12.)

It is perhaps not without significance that sacrifice, though alluded to in Apoc. Mos. xxix. 3,
iv. 2, is not treated as a cause of God’s pardon to Adam; which is due to God’s mercy and the
angel’s prayers (Apoc. Mos. xxxv-xxxvii; cf. 2 En. Ixi. 4).

The resemblance to the Pauline teaching is the more remarkable since Everling (Paulinische
Demonologie) and Thackeray (Sz. Paul and Contemporary Thought) have shown that the two appear
to agree very closely in their estimate of Eve’s part in the fall of man. Cf. 1 Cor. xi. 10, esp.
1 Tim. ii. 14 and 2 Cor. xi. 3 and 13-15. (See Thackeray’s note on pp. 53-4.) Cf. Apoc. Mos.
xix. 1, 2, 3 with xvii. 1 = Vita ix and Apoc. Mos. xxv. 3; 2 En. xxxi. 1, Sir. xxv. 23; Apoc. Mos.
ix. 2, Χ. 2 = Vita iii. 2, v. 3. Cf. Philo, Quaestiones, 1-33.

2 Cor. xi. 14 reads almost like a quotation from Apoc. Mos. xvii or its prototype. It is of
comparatively minor importance that Everling notices the close resemblance of Paul’s early concep-
tion of the Parousia in 1 Thess, ii. 14 with that portrayed in Apoc. Mos. xxii; while ‘the Paradise
in the Third Heaven’ of 2 Cor. xii. 2 is identical with that in Apoc. Mos. xl. 1, xxxvii. 5. These
are common features in the Rabbinic writings, though Talmud (Ber. Rabb. vi, Chagiga 12 δ)
changed the order of the Heavens (see Charles, 2 En. xxxviii).

If Kabisch goes too far in identifying our Apoc. Mosis with the source used by St. Paul, it
seems at least tenable that S. Paul and the author of the 2 Enoch were near contemporaries of the
original author of Apoc. Mos. and moved in the same circle of ideas; profoundly modified in
St. Paul's case by his Christian convictions; in the case of 2 Enoch by the author’s interest in the
Philonic and Platonic speculations, e.g. of Pre-Existence; in the case of the author of Apoc. Mos.
by his love of the picturesque and extravagant use of Jewish Haggada. In that case, we may
assign the original nucleus of the Apoc. Mos., of which our Greek copy is a slightly revised version, to
the middle or end of the first century A. Ὁ. and picture the author as a religious Jew of Alexandria.!

* If the author was an Alexandrian Jew, then he must have drawn on Hebrew or Aramaic sources, since the text
in certain passages presupposes mistranslations of a Semitic original.—[Gen. Editor.]

130

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INTRODUCTION

δ 8. INFLUENCE ON LATER LITERATURE.

Some traditions included in the Latin version are not without early attestation. In the Vita L.,

cf. also Aboda Zara 8a, Conflict of Adam and Eve, I, xii; both appear to be of later origin. But
the devil’s claim seems to have appeared in embryo form also in the original ‘ Assumption of Moses’
as reconstructed by Charles from later allusions (Charles, Ass. Mosis, p. 106).

The story of the serpent putting the poison of lust on the fruit (connected with Rabbinic
teaching of yeser hara (¥73 7¥}) 4 Ezra’s ‘evil seed’ in man) has been frequently dwelt upon in
the Rabbis and in the Jewish Apocalypses (now Christianized), Slav. Bar, xcvii, Apoc. Abraham
xxiii (cited by Ginzberg).

The glory of Adam and Eve before the Fall, the brightness they lost, the Resurrection that
was promised to Adam, the nature of the serpent’s temptation, the limbs of the serpent, the kind of
the tree of knowledge, the trumpet of Michael the guardian angel of Eve, the judgement of God
coming with his angels, the mutilation of the serpent, all are enumerated in Rabbinic literature (see
notes on Apoc. Mos, xvii, xviii, xx, xxvi, xxxii-xxxvii, xxix, &c.).

Far from showing no repentance, Adam is regarded already in Jub, xix. 24 as a righteous
patriarch, and the nature of his penance is described in Erubin 18b, Ab. Zara 18a, Ab. R. Nath. i
(cited by Ginzberg). The sacrifice of fragrant herbs offered by Adam (xxix) and the failure of Cain
to bury Abel (xl) are both already known to the author of Jubilees. With the seventy-two ‘ plagues’
of God’s curse on Adam in Apoc. Mos, viii. 2; cf. Mishna, Veg.i. 4 (Ginzberg), as also God’s words
in Targ. Jer. iii. 9, with Apoc. Mos. viii. 1 (= xxiii, 1). The later scenes in God’s care of Adam’s soul
and body after death are all to be found in the Rabbinic commentaries, very likely derived from this
book. The‘ Apocalypse’ or ‘Testament of Abraham’, which according to James, Texts and Studies,
and Kohler (QR, 1895, 581-601), is in the main pre-Christian, Jewish, or Essene, and certainly dates
before Origen, i.e. circ. A. D. 200, has taken much from our book for the material on which it is based ;
concerning the nature of the Fall, the tree of which they ate, even the old Hebrew name of Jael for
God, also the seventy-two kinds of death (cf. Apoc. Mos. viii. 2, seventy-two ‘ plagues’ or ‘ strokes’).

With regard to the more general features of belief in angels, seven ‘ Heavens’, two abodes of
Paradise, ‘chariot of cherubim,’ revolt of the beasts, Acherusian lake, &c., see § 9, ‘ Theology.’ These,
alike in Christian and Jewish Apocalypse, form a large body of common ground not derived from a
single work, but the crystallized conceptions of generations. Cf. art. ‘ Apocalyptic’ in Fewish Encyc.

When we come to a consideration of Christian, Gnostic, and Moslem productions, the suspicion
of a direct influence becomes more pressing, though it is still hard to decide in individual cases.
It has already appeared that both Syriac Schatzhihle and Ethiopic Conflict of Adam and Eve
with Satan, and especially the latter, are full of comments on, and expansions of, the subject-matter
of both the Vita and the Apoc. Mos. A reader of these works and of the Gnostic Armenian Tales
of Adam and Seth, and the Syriac ‘ Testament of Adam’, will be struck at once by the contrast of
the tone and likeness of the events narrated in the two literary cycles. The most marked characteristic
of these Christian and Gnostic books is the new part played by the ascetic life as such. Ascetic
touches, 6. g. division of paradise for males and females (Vita xxxii = Apoc. Mos. xv), Eve’s ‘sin of
the flesh’ (Apoc. Mos. xxv), the fasting in Jordan (Vita i-xii), the birth of Cain after the Expulsion
from Eden (Apoc. Mos, i, Vita xix—xxi) are not wanting in our Adam books ; but they are far removed
from the way of thinking presented by those products of the pious imagination of monks, where it
is on account of their fasting and celibacy that the children of Seth are styled ‘Sons of God’, and
live apart on a holy mountain; where the temptation of Adam is an incitement to marry Eve, where
long years of separation between husband and wife are only brought to an end by the special
command of God (even as Noah is only induced to take a wife against his will by the same
command), where fasting is a constant practice, and celibacy a necessary mark of saintliness.

In the ‘Testament’ yet another feature of our books is taken up and enormously expanded.
This is the old Hebrew notion of the sympathy of the elements, conceived almost as angels (so in
1 En, Ixxvi, ‘those stars’, also xxi. 3) in the sorrows of men, The prayers of the sun and moon for
Adam (Apoc. Mos, xxxvi-xxxvii, condensed in Vita xlvi) and the darkness of the sun in the
presence of God (Apoc. Mos. xxxvi = 2 En. xiv. 2 (Charles’ note), cf. Vita viii, Slav. Vit. xxxvii),
are the basis of the elaborate poetical description of the combined intercessions of all the powers of

* This seems to be a late development of the myth found in Jubilees viii. 3. See my edition zz /oc.—[Gen. Editor.]
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THE BOOKS OF ADAM AND EVE

Heaven, of which we are told in this work. The arrangement into hours of day and night is perhaps
based on Gnostic imaginations of the ‘aeons’ of the world, but serves to give a grandeur and com-
pleteness to the representation. A more direct reference to the words of Apoc. Mos. xxxv is to be
found possibly in the Dormitio Mariae xxxviii (Tisch.), a late Christian book, condemned in Decret.
Gelasii vi. 28, and perhaps this account is copied from Apoc. Mos. Probably the censing by angels
of Mary’s corpse in Dorm. Mar. xxvi repeats idea of Apoc. Mos. xxxiii. 4. -

The pleading of Seth and Eve for the oil of mercy is probably taken down by the author of
the Ev. Nicodemi xix direct from our text (Apoc, Mos. xiii = Vita xli), though in a later form (but
before Ethiopic ‘Conflict’, sixth century) of the Latin version his own statement of the promise has
taken the place of the Jewish ‘ Apocalypse’ in Apoc. Mos. xiii. 3-5; where its presence seems to
me (with Fuchs, Kautzsch, Apok. und Pseud. ii. 509) to need no apology.

Similarly the Apoc. Pauli xxii seems to have taken the name ‘ Acherusian lake’, though not
the thing, which is very old, from Apoc. Mos. xxxvii. 3 ; cf. Orac. Sibyl. i. 302, ii. 341. Apoc. Pauli
xliv claims for Sunday rest and peace even in Hell, which Jews and Essenes ascribed to the Sabbath,
as in Apoc. Mos. xliii = Vita li.

$9. THEOLOGY OF THE APOCALYPSIS MOSIS.

Nothing could more effectually demonstrate that the Apocalypsis Mosis originated-in a foreign
city than the complete absence, outside the manifest insertion in Vita xxix, of any reference to the
Jerusalem temple; unless ‘the place where he was accustomed to pray’, on which the Moslems
learnt to build their reverence for the sacred Caaba, may be taken as a distant allusion (Vit. xxx. I
= Apoc. Mos, v. 1) to some specially holy place. This distinguishes it from the ‘ Assumptio Mosis’,
the work of a Palestinian, a Pharisaic Quietist, without a Messiah. Nor, as we have seen, does the
author follow his teacher, the author of 2 Enoch (xlii. 6, lix. 1, 2, Ixvi. 2), in giving prominence to
sacrifice, which is here treated as entirely subsidiary, and plays no part in attaining the desired
pardon. Yet the God he pictures, like the future he prophesies, is a naive and childlike conception
only one step removed from the primitive figure in Genesis. Despite occasional higher flights,
e.g. xxxvii, Eve’s prayers in xxxii. 2 and xlii. 4-8, the studied anthropomorphism is so marked as
almost to suggest an antiquarian design. In this respect, he goes far beyond 2 Enoch. God not only
speaks to Adam and Eve (Apoc. Mos. viii. 1, xxviii. 1, xxix. 5), comes to the garden in a chariot
of his Cherubim (Apoc. Mos. xxii. 3), or as Slav. has it, ‘on their shoulders’, sits on a throne placed
at the tree of life (Apoc. Mos. xxii. 4), rebukes the angels for being more merciful than Himself
(Apoc. Mos. xxvii. 4; cf. Apoc. Abraham xxviii), puts out his hand and lifts up Adam from the
Acherusian lake after handing him over to Michael to be dealt with, comes down to supervise the
arrangements for Adam and Abel’s burial (xxxviii. 3—5),and holds a conversation first with Adam’s
soul (xxxix), and then with his corpse (xli. 1, 3). Yet despite this curious humbling of the Almighty,
the author shows many traces of the newand transcendent view of His attributes, which was causing men ;
to lift Him ever further and further out of reach. Though God often speaks to Adam, his appearance
after the Fall is not described as in Gen. iii. 8, but heralded by the ‘trump of the archangel ’ (xxii. 1,
cf. 1 Thess. iv. 16 of the ‘ Parousia’), and neither the expulsion, the funeral, nor the last injunctions
are his direct work; they are entrusted to a host of subordinate beings. The two cherubim of
Gen. iii. 24 are there (Apoc. Mos. xxviii. 3) but their efforts are now supported by a host of other
angelic beings. The archangels (four of whom are mentioned by name, xl. 1, cf. Vita xlviii. 6) and
the Seraphim, one of whom (xxxvii. 3) is given the task of casting Adam’s soul into the Acherusian
lake, are the most important. Thus Michael's special concern is with the care of men’s bodies
(Apoc. Mos. xxxii. 3). This was a well-known conception of later Judaism (see Notes). The
other archangels (Uriel, Raphael, Gabriel) who carry out the funeral, are all names well known to
readers of ‘Enoch’ and parallel works of Jewish Apocalyptic. The ‘virtues’, who support Eve
in her hour of trial, Vita xxii. 1,and watched her once in Paradise, Vita xxxiii. 1 (perhaps the
latter passage in the Vita borrows them from here, i.e. Apoc. Mos. vii. 2) are the guardian angels
of which Our Lord speaks (Matt. xviii. 10) and which are perhaps first mentioned in Jubilees
xxxv.17. In another respect the author follows the practice of the later Jews in ascribing great
efficacy to the prayers not only of the righteous but of angels, for the departed (cf. Apoc. Mos.
χχχν, xxxvi; Vita xxi. 2, ix. 3). In this case he opposes the teaching of 2 Enoch (iii. 1) who,
unlike Philo, attacked this practice.

The doctrine of a Future Life corresponds very nearly to the notion entertained by the later
Judaism. The teaching of a Resurrection and a Judgement is clear and emphatic, as also is the
doctrine concerning the intermediate abode of departed souls in Paradise, the third of the seven
Heavens (Apoc. Mos. xxxiii. 4,(A) Tisch.), (xxxv. 2), (xxxvii. 3, 5, xl. 2) and thus quite distinct from
the original Garden of Eden where Adam and Eve dwelt before the Fall. (Apoc. Mos. i, vi, viii,
xiii, xvi, xxii, &c.; Vita xxxi, xxxii, xxxiii, xl, xlviii, &c.; Slav. Vita xxx, xxxi.)

132

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INTRODUCTION

ᾧ το. BIBLIOGRAPHY.
CHIEF EDITIONS OF TEXT AND VERSIONS OF THE ADAM LITERATURE.

Greek. ἶ ς
Tischendorff, Afocalypses Apocryphae, 1866 (based on A, Β, C, and beginning and end of D).
Ceriani, Monumenta Sacra et Profana, v. 21 sqq. (text of D).
Latin.

Meyer, in Abhandlungen der Miinchner Akademie der Wissenschaften, philos.-philol. K1., xiv, 1878.
German. ἱ
Η. Vollmer, Deutsches Adambuch, 1908.

Ce
Jagi¢, Denkschriften der Wiener Akademie der Wissenschaften, philos.-hist., K1., xlii, 1893.

Conybeare, Jewish Quarterly Review, 1895, vii. 216-35.
Preuschen, Festschrift, 1900, ‘ Armenische Gnostische Adam-Schriften.’
_ Syri ς

Ὑ Βεροα, Schatshikle, 1890.
Renan, sat Asiatigue, 1853, pp. 427-53.

se 4 A
illmann, Adambuch des Morgenlandes, 1850.
Trumpp, Adhandlungen der Miinchner Akademie, philos.-philol. K1., xv, 1879 (Eth. text).

CRITICAL INQUIRIES.

J. H. Hort, Dictionary of Christian Biography, Art. ‘ Books of Adam.’
isch, Entstehungszeit der Apoc. Mosis, ZV7W, 1905, pp. 109-35.

M. R. James, ‘ Greek A of Adam,’ 7ext and Studies, ii, iii, 1891.

Renan, ‘Syr. Test. of Adam,’ Journal Asiatigue, Ser. v, 1853.

Malan, Conflict of Adam and Eve, London, 1899.

᾿ vera en ree "in se pay τ ,Ν — und sr τεῦ ii, δ
inzberg, Die Haggada bet den Kirchenvitern, 1899, pp. 63 544.

Adam und Eva nach Auffassung der Midrasch, on
Ginzberg, Jewish Encyclopedia, Art. ‘Book of Adam,’
Preuschen, Die apokryphen Gnostischen Adamschriften, 1900.

133

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ΨΙΤΑ ADAE ET EVAE.

Penance of Adam and Eve, i-xi.
"αὶ When they were driven out from paradise,
they made themselves a booth, and spent seven
days mourning and lamenting in great grief.

But after seven days, they began to be hungry
and started to look for victual to eat, and they
2 found it not. Then Eve said to Adam: ‘My

lord, I am hungry. Go, look for (something)

for us to eat. Perchance the Lord God will
look back and pity us and recall us to the place
in which we were before.’

ἐδ τ

And Adam arose and walked seven days over
all that land, and found no victual such as they
2 used to have in paradise. And Eve said to Adam:

‘Wilt thou slay me? that I may die, and per-

chance God the Lord will bring thee into paradise,

for on my account hast thou been driven thence.’
3 Adam answered: ‘Forbear, Eve, from such
words, that peradventure God bring not some
other curse upon us. How is it possible that I
should stretch forth my hand against my own
flesh? Nay, let us arise and look for something
for us to live on, that we fail not.’

And they walked about and searched for nine
days, and they found none such as they were
used to have in paradise, but found only animals’
2 food. And Adam said to Eve: ‘This hath the

Lord provided for animals and brutes to eat ;
3 but we used to have angels’ food. But it is just
and right that we lament before the sight of God
who made us. Let us repent with a great peni-
tence: perchance the Lord will be gracious to
us and will pity us and give us a share of some-
thing for our living.’

iii. 1

iv. I

i. I. paradise.
ii, 1. after seven days.
started to look for = guaerebant.

Cod. Ar.+‘they went to the West’.

iii. τ. seven days. Mishna Taanit i. 6 says he fasted seven days, see Introd. δὲ 4, 5. ;
victual . . . in paradise: eating beasts’ food was one of Adam’s curses in Ber. rabba xx, Pirke Eliezer.

explains it as ‘nettles’.

2. on my account. MSS. have doublet ‘quoniam propter me iratus est tibi dominus deus vis interficere me ut
moriar et forte introducet te dominus deus in paradisum, quia propter meam causam expulsus es inde’.
3. bring . . . some other curse. Cod. Ar. ‘curse us with some other curse’, Hebraism.

my own flesh = Gen. ii. 24.
iv. 2. angels’ food: cf. Ps. Ixxviii. 25 (Fuchs).

xxviii. 1. before the gate of paradise.
xxxi. 2. Joel. Confusion with Jah-El.

contrast Christian version in Introd. § 5 a.

134

ADAM AND EVE

SLAVONIC VITA ADAE ET EVAE.

And we sat together before the gate of para-
dise, Adam weeping with his face bent down
to the earth, lay on the ground lamenting.
And seven days passed by and we had nothing 2
to eat and were consumed with great hunger,
and I Eve cried with a loud voice: ‘ Pity me, O
Lord, My Creator; for my sake Adam suffereth
thus!’

And I said to Adam: ‘ Rise up! my lord, that
we may seek us food; for now my spirit faileth
me and my heart within me is brought low.’
Then Adam spake to me: ‘I have thoughts of 2
killing thee, but I fear since God created thine
image and thou showest penitence and criest to
God; hence my heart hath not departed from
thee.’

And Adam arose and we roamed through all xxx.
lands and found nothing to eat save nettles (and)
grass of the field. And we returned again to
the gates of paradise and cried aloud and en-
treated: ‘Have compassion on thy creature. 2
O Lord Creator, allow us food.’ ‘

And for fifteen days continuously we entreated. x
Then we heard Michael the archangel and Joel 2
praying for us, and Joel the archangel was
commanded by the Lord, and he took a seventh
part of paradise and gave it to us. Then the3
Lord said: ‘ Thorns and thistles shall spring up
from under thy hands; and from thy sweat
shalt thou eat (bread), and thy wife shall tremble
when she looketh upon thee.’

The archangel Joel said to Adam :‘ Thus saith xxx
the Lord ; I did not create thy wife to command
thee, but to obey ; why art thou obedient to thy
wife?’ Again Joel the archangel bade Adam 2
separate the cattle and all kinds of flying and
creeping things and animals, both wild and tame;
and to give names to all things. Then indeed 3
he took the oxen and began to plough.

Cod, Ar. has ‘after six days’; cf. Mishna Taanit i. 6.

Slav. Vita i marks this off from Heavenly ‘ Paradise’.
i. Cf. Apoc. Mos. xliii. 4 (note). s
xxxii. 3. plough. No extreme asceticism—corn regarded as a blessing—just as there is no disparagement of marriage ;

Slav,

ViTA ADAE ET EVAE.

And Eve said to Adam: ‘ What is penitence?
Tell me, what sort of penitence am I to do?
Let us not put too great a labour on ourselves,
which we cannot endure, so that the Lord will
2 not hearken to our prayers: and will turn away

His countenance from us, because we have not
3 fulfilled what we promised. My lord, how much

penitence hast thou thought (to do) for I have

brought trouble and anguish upon thee ?’

v. I

And Adam said to Eve: ‘Thou canst not do
so much as I, but do only so much as thou hast
strength for. For I will spend forty days fasting,
but do thou arise and go to the river Tigris and
lift up a stone and stand on it in the water up to
thy neck in the deep of the river. And let no

Εις

speech proceed out of thy mouth, since we are
unworthy to address the Lord, for our lips are
unclean from the unlawful and forbidden tree.
_ 2And do thou stand in the water of the river
thirty-seven days. But I will spend forty days
in the water of Jordan, perchance the Lord God
will take pity upon us.’
wii.t And Eve walked to the river Tigris and did
2as Adam had told her. Likewise, Adam walked
to the river Jordan and stood on a stone up to
; his neck in water.
vii. τ And Adam said: ‘I tell thee, water of Jordan,
grieve with me, and assemble to me all swimming
Ι (creatures), which are in thee, and let them sur-
2round me and mourn in company with me. Not
for themselves let them lament, but for me; for
it is not they that have sinned, but I.’
3. Forthwith, all living things came and sur-
rounded him, and, from that hour, the water of
Jordan stood (still) and its current was stayed.’

Ore νι

vi. 1. as thou hast strength for.
unlawful and forbidden.

THE BOOKS OF ADAM AND EVE

SLAVONIC VITA ADAE ET EVAE.

Then the devil approached and stood before xxxiii. 1

the oxen, and hindered Adam in tilling the field
and said to Adam: ‘Mine are the things of 2
earth, the things of Heaven are God’s; but if
thou wilt be mine, thou shalt labour on the
earth; but if thou wilt be God’s, (pray) go
away to paradise. Adam said: ‘The things 3
of Heaven are the Lord’s, and the things of earth
and Paradise and the whole Universe.’

The devil said: ‘I do not suffer thee to till xxxiv. 1

the field, except thou write the bond that thou
art mine.’ Adam replied: ‘Whosoever is lord of 2
the earth, to the same do I (belong) and my
children.” Then the devil was overcome with
joy. (But Adam was not ignorant that the Lord 3
would descend on earth and tread the devil
under foot.) The devil said: ‘Write me thy 4
bond.’ And Adam wrote: ‘Who is lord of the
earth, to the same do I belong and my children.’

Eve said to Adam, ‘ Rise up, my lord, let us xxxv. 1
pray to God in this cause that He set us free
from that devil, for thou art in this strait on my
account.’

But Adam said : ‘ Eve, since thou repentest of 2
thy misdeed, my heart will hearken to thee, for
the Lord created thee out of my ribs. Let us
fast forty days perchance the Lord will have
pity on us and will leave us understanding and
life.” I, for my part, said: ‘Do thou, (my) lord, 3
fast forty days, but I will fast forty-four.’

And Adam said to me: ‘ Haste thee to the xxxvi.
river, named Tigris, and take a great stone and
place it under thy feet, and enter into the stream
and clothe thyself with water, as with a cloak,
up to the neck, and pray to God in thy heart
and let no word proceed out of thy mouth.’ And 2
I said: ‘O (my) lord, with my whole heart will
I call upon God. And Adam said to me:3
‘Take great care of thyself. Except thou seest
me and all my tokens, depart not out of the
water, nor trust in the words, which are said to
thee, lest thou fall again into the snare.” And 4
Adam came to Jordan and he entered into the
water and he plunged himself altogether into the
flood, even (to) the hairs of his head, while he
made supplication to God and sent (up) prayers
to Him.

Ι ef salveris: 11 sed salveris.
I contradicti: Il III dlicito et contradicto.

Cor. Ar. z//icito.

2. Jordan. Probably changed by Christian editor from ‘Gihon’, where Jews, e.g. Pirke Eliezer, placed Adam’s

penitence, for we expect another river of Paradise.
viii. 3. stood still,
this lasted eighteen days. -

I steterunt ex aqua non agentes cursunt.

Meyer gives singular as text. Katona’s text says

xxxiii-xxxv. Heretical interpolation by Bogomilian dualist (Jagi¢). ‘Paradise’ here is the Heavenly one, widely

separated from the earth. For this whole section cf. Pauline phrase ‘bond servants of sin’.
MSS. of ‘ Solfernus’ and Polish and Bohemian Adam tales.

xxxiv. 3. But Adam, ἄς.
xxxv. 3. forty-four.
xxxvi. 3. fall ..

A gloss within a gloss.
Eve stronger here.
. snare = scandalizeris,

It occurs in all Slav.

In Latin Vit. vi, I has ‘thirty-seven ’, III ‘thirty’ days.

135

ἘΣ;

ἿΡ

THE BOOKS OF

ViTA ADAE ET EVAE.

1 And eighteen days passed by; then Satan
was wroth and transformed himself into the
brightness of angels, and went away to the river

2 Tigris to Eve, and found her weeping, and the
devil himself pretended to grieve with her, and
he began to weep and said to her: ‘Come out
of the river and lament no more. Cease now
from sorrow and moans. Why art thou anxious

3 and thy husband Adam? The Lord God hath
heard your groaning and hath accepted your
penitence, and all we angels have entreated on
your behalf, and made supplication to the Lord ;

4and he hath sent me to bring you out of the
water and give you the nourishment which you
had in paradise, and for which you are crying

5 out. Now come out of the water and I will
conduct you to the place where your victual hath
been made ready.’

1 But Eve heard and believed and went out of
the water of the river, and her flesh was (trembling)

2 like grass, from the chill of the water. And
when she had gone out, she fell on the earth and
the devil raised her up and led her to Adam.

3 But when Adam had seen her and the devil with
her, he wept and cried aloud and said: ‘O Eve,
Eve, where is the labour of thy penitence?

4 How hast thou been again ensnared by our
adversary, by whose means we have been
estranged from our abode in paradise and
spiritual joy ?’

t And when she heard this, Eve understood that
(it was) the devil (who) had persuaded her to go
out of the river; and she fell on her face on the
earth and her sorrow and groaning and wailing

2 was redoubled. And she cried out and said:
‘Woe unto thee, thou devil. Why dost thou
attack us for no cause? What hast thou to do
with us? What have we done to thee? for thou
pursuest us with craft? Or why doth thy malice

3 assail us? Have we taken away thy glory and
caused thee to be without honour? Why dost
thou harry us, thou enemy (and persecute us) to
the death in wickedness and envy?’

ix. 1. was wroth. III >.
4. crying out. II II] plangitis: 1 planxistis.

ADAM AND EVE

SLAVONIC VITA ADAE ET EVAE.

And there, the angels came together and all
living creatures, wild and tame, and all birds that
fly, (and) they surrounded Adam, like a wall,
praying to God for Adam.

The devil came to me, wearing the form and ,
brightness of an angel, and shedding big tear-
drops, (and) said to me: ‘ Come out of the water, ,
Eve, God hath heard thy prayers and (heard) us
angels. God hath fulfilled the prayers of those
who intercede on thy behalf. God hath sent me
to thee, that thou mayst come out of the water.’

But I (Eve) perceived that he was the devil x
and answered him nothing. But Adam (when) he
returned from Jordan, saw the devil’s footprints,
and feared lest perchance he had deceived me;
but when he had remarked me standing in the
water he was overcome with joy (and) he took 2
me and led me out of the water.

silent, Eve, for already is my spirit straitened
in my body; arise, go forth, utter prayers to
God, till I deliver up my spirit to God,’

(Passage follows exactly parallel to Apocalypsis
Mosis xxxii. seq., but in abbreviated form.)

xi. 2. with craft = do/ose Fuchs, Meyer, Katona: others dolore.

xxxvii. I. a wall.

Far greater than concise Latin account.

Cf. Rom. viii. 22. In Recension ii. Satan appears

twice—the first time as Adam. The ‘tokens’ of xxxvi. 3 are explained there. : as
xxxix. 1. answered nothing. Here only, Eve is not deceived. Contrast ‘Conflict’ of Adam and Eve, I. xxxili-

XXXV.

xl. 1. Adam cried out, &c. Only here. Latin Vita xi perhaps inserted to link on story in xvi-xxiii. Eve

deliberately compels Satan to come forward with his tale.

Then Adam cried out with a loud voice: ‘Be yy, 7

THE BOOKS OF ADAM AND EVE

VITA ADAE ET EVAE.,

The Fall of the Devil, xii—xvii.

1 And with a heavy sigh, the devil spake: “Ὁ Adam! all my hostility, envy, and sorrow is for
thee, since it is for thee that I have been expelled from my glory, which I possessed in the heavens

2 in the midst of the angels and for thee was I cast out in the earth.’ Adam answered, ‘ What dost

3 thou tell me? What have I done to thee or what is my fault against thee? Seeing that thou hast
received no harm or injury from us, why dost thou pursue us?’

1 The devil replied, ‘Adam, what dost thou tell me? It is for thy sake that I have been hurled

2 from that place. When thou wast formed, I was hurled out of the presence of God and banished
from the company of the angels. When God blew into thee the breath of life and thy face and
likeness was made in the image of God, Michael also brought thee and made (us) worship thee in the
sight of God ; and God the Lord spake: Here is Adam. I have made thee in our image and
likeness.’

. 1 And Michael went out and called all the angels saying :

; ‘Worship the image of God as the Lord God hath commanded.’

2 And Michael himself worshipped first; then he called me and said: ‘ Worship the image of God

} 3the Lord.’ And I answered, ‘I have no (need) to worship Adam.’ And since Michael kept

urging me to worship, I said to him, ‘ Why dost thou urge me? 1 will not worship an inferior and

__- younger being (than I). I am his senior in the Creation, before he was made was I already made.
ὃ It ishis duty to worship me.’

- 1,2 When the angels, who were under me, heard this, they refused to worship him. And Michael
saith, ‘ Worship the image of God, but if thou wilt not worship him, the Lord God will be wrath
_ $with thee.’ And I said, ‘If He be wrath with me, I will set my seat above the stars of heaven and
will be like the Highest.’

t And God the Lord was wrath with me and banished me and my angels from our glory; and on

2thy account were we expelled from our abodes into this world and hurled on the earth. And

3 straightway we were overcome with grief, since we had been spoiled of so great glory. And we

4 were grieved when we saw thee in such joy and luxury. And with guile I cheated thy wife and
caused thee to be expelled through her (doing) from thy joy and luxury, as I have been driven

᾿ς οἱ of my glory.’

Vii, εὰ When Adam heard the devil say this, he cried out and wept and spake: ‘O Lord my God, my
_ life is in thy hands. - Banish this Adversary far from me, who seeketh to destroy my soul, and give
2, 3 me his glory which he himself hath lost.’ And at that moment, the devil vanished before him.

But Adam endured in his penance, standing for forty days (on end) in the water of Jordan.

Birth of Cain and Abel; Death of Abel; Book of Seth, xviii-xxiv.

viii, 1 _ And Eve said to Adam: ‘ Live thou, my Lord, to thee life is granted, since thou hast committed
neither the first nor the second error. But I have erred and been led astray for I have not kept the
commandment of God; and now banish me from the light of thy life and I will go to the sunsetting,

2 and there will I be, until I die’ And she began to walk towards the western parts and to mourn
3 and to weep bitterly and groan aloud. And she made there a booth, while she had in her womb
offspring of three months old.

xii. 1. expelled I. Il]+e¢ alienatus sum. Story closely parallel to Al Koran Suras vii-xi, Codex Nazaraeus 67:
* The highest kings of light declared: ‘‘ Let the kings of fire serve Adam.” But one, the author of ill, did not follow
the commands of the Lord and was hurled in chains.’ Cf. Rabbi Moses-Hadarschan: ‘When God made Adam, he
said to the higher angels, ‘‘ Bow yourselves down !”’

3. noharm. II III non nocitus: 111 15 damnatus: 1 natus. 119.17, 1114 >.

xiii. 1. Cf. 2 En. xxxi. 3.

xiv. 2. God the Lord = Jahwe Elohim (o‘>x m7),

3. Ihave no (need) to = xox hadco with infinitive.

xv. I. the angels .. . under me. Sole reference to devils (in plural) in Vita or Apoc. Mos.

3. like the Highest. Midrasch on Isa. xiv (LXX). Cf. Dan. xi. 11. stars II II]. ‘throne’ I.

xvii. 1. error = pracvaricatio.

2. western parts = Apoc. Mos. i. 1.

3. Offspring. So Meyer III 1. Jewish anti-ascetic piece. Contrast ‘ Conflict’ and Magyar ‘Vita Adae’, where
they remain apart one hundred years and are only married at God’s express command. Cf. Noah in Arm. ‘ Gospel of
Seth’ (Preuschen’s translation).
᾿ three months old. So III 43; I1 3.9. I117 + ‘Cain’.

137

abe

THE BOOKS OF ADAM AND EVE

xix. 1 And when the time of her bearing approached, she began to be distressed with pains, and she
2 cried aloud to the Lord and said: ‘ Pity me, O Lord, assist me.’ And she was not heard and the
3 mercy of God did not encircle her. And she said to herself: ‘Who shall tell my lord Adam?
I implore you, ye luminaries of heaven, what time ye return to the east, bear a message to my
lord Adam,’
But in that hour, Adam said: ‘The complaint of Eve hath come to me.
hath the serpent fought with her.’
2 And he went and found her in great distress. And Eve said: ‘From the moment I saw thee,
my lord, my grief-laden soul was refreshed. And now entreat the Lord God on my behalf to
3 hearken unto thee and look upon me and free me from my awful pains.’ And Adam entreated
the Lord for Eve.
xxi. 1 And behold, there came twelve angels and two ‘ virtues’, standing on the right and on the left
2 of Eve; and Michael was standing on the right; and he stroked her on the face as far as to
the breast and said to Eve: ‘Blessed art thou, Eve, for Adam’s sake. Since his prayers and
intercessions are great, I have been sent that thou mayst receive our help. Rise up now, and
3 prepare thee to bear. And she bore a son and he was shining; and at once the babe rose up
and ran and bore a blade of grass in his hands, and gave it to his mother, and his name was

5 ἢ Perchance, once more

called Cain.

VITA ADAE ET EVAE.

xxii, 1 And Adam carried Eve and the boy and led
2 them to the East. Andthe Lord God sent divers
seeds by Michael the archangel and gave to
Adam and showed him how to work and till
the ground, that they might have fruit by which

they and all their generations might live.

3 For thereafter Eve conceived and bare a son,
whose name was Abel ; and Cain and Abel used
to stay together.

4 And Eve said to Adam: ‘My lord, while I
slept, I saw a vision, as it were the blood of
our son Abel in the hand of Cain, who was
gulping it down in his mouth. Therefore I have
sorrow.’

5 And Adam said,‘ Alas if Cainslew Abel. Yet
let us separate them from each other mutually,

xix. 2. did not encircle her.
3. what time .

2. was refreshed.

‘principalities, thrones, powers’, &c.
and Michael ... right. II only. So Meyer.
2. on the face. I faciem eius: 11, III eam a facie.
3. Shining (/ucidus). Cf. Adiaphotos, Apoc. Mos. i.

say Cain slew Abel with a reed.
xxii. 4. I saw.
5. separate...

i. All MSS. (ABCD and Arm.) give preface describing book as taught to Moses by Michael the archangel.
Slav. describes subjection of all animals in first chapter (cf. beasts’ words in

Like the title, this is a later addition.
Apoc. Mos. xi. 1).
2. knew.

‘a keeper of sheep’ for Amilabes,
Amilabes AD: CB corrupt.
ii. 2. went on drinking E: AC D has aorist (ἔπιεν).

Not a Christian sentiment, but Jewish.

. . tothe east. Cf. Test. Adam, describing the fourth hour of the night. Ὁ i
xx. I. the serpent. Cf. Eve’s tale in Apoc. Mos. xv-xxx. Also attack of beast in Vita xxxvii, Apoc. Mos. x-xi,
refrigeravit Meyer: 1 infrigeravit. ;

xxi. I. virtues (or ‘powers’ Fuchs). Probably ‘guardian angels’ (Ginzberg).
Name agrees in Test. Adam.

The ‘Incunabulum’ (see Meyer 215), the Deutsches Adam
Buch and III say Eve was frightened and wished to kill Cain, ν ᾿
blade of grass...Cain. Better ‘reed.’ Play on words—Hebrew 3? (Kanéh) and #2 (Cain). Some .Rabbis

In Slav. Adam sees it before Cain’s birth.
mutually. Midrasch on Gen. iv. 2, 7-10.

ἔγνω (Gen. iv. 1) DE Arm.: AC ‘took’ (ἔλαβεν).
went upwards (ἀνῆλθεν) AC: Ὁ ‘went out’ (ἐξῆλθεν).
3. Adiaphotos D: other MSSt. Arm. ‘Anloys’ = ‘full of light’ .
Ante-Nicene Christian Library, xvi, 1870, suggests διαφύτωρ or διαφυτευτής, ‘a planter,’ for Adiaphotos and μηλοβότης,

Arm. ‘ Barekhooh’ = ‘ well-minded’ (Conybeare).

138

APOCALYPSIS MOSIS.

This is the story of Adam and Eve after they had i. 1
gone out of Paradise. And Adam knew his wife 2
Eve and went upwards to the sun-rising and abode
there eighteen years and two months. And Eve3
conceived and bare two sons; Adiaphotos, who
is called Cain and Amilabes who is called Abel.

And after this, Adam and Eve were with one ii.
another and while they were sleeping, Eve said
to Adam her lord: ‘ My lord, Adam, behold, I 2
have seen in a dream this night the blood of my
son Amilabes who is styled Abel being poured
into the mouth of Cain his brother and he went
on drinking it without pity. But he begged him
to leave him a little of it. Yet he hearkened 3
not to him, but gulped down the whole; nor
did it stay in his stomach, but came out of his

Cf. Apoc. Mos. vii. Like Pauline

Perhaps alludes to myth that he was Satan’s child.

Cf. Vita xxi. 3 /ucidus. The translator in the

ViTA ADAE ET ΕΥ̓ΔΕ.

and let us make for each of them separate

dwellings.’

x And they made Cain an husbandman, (but)
Abel they made a shepherd; in order that in
this wise they might be mutually separated.

2 And thereafter, Cain slew Abel, but Adam was

then one hundred and thirty years old, but Abel

was slain when he was one hundred and twenty-
two years.

Ϊ
= 3 And thereafter Adam knew his wife
᾿ς and he begat a son and called his name Seth.
xiv t And Adam said to Eve, ‘Behold, I have be-
__ gotten a son, in place of Abel, whom Cain slew.’
_ 2And after Adam had begotten Seth, he lived
Ἷ eight hundred years and begat thirty sons and
thirty daughters; in all sixty-three children.
And they ‘were increased over the face of the
earth in their nations.

THE BOOKS OF ADAM AND EVE

APOCALYPSIS MOsIS.

mouth. And Adam said, ‘Let us arise and go 4
and see what has happened to them. (I fear)
lest the adversary may be assailing them some-
where.’

And they both went and found Abel murdered jj, α
by the hand of Cain his brother. And God 2
saith to Michael the archangel: ‘Say to Adam :
“Reveal not the secret that thou knowest to Cain
thy son, for he is a son of wrath. But grieve
not, for I will give thee another son in his stead ;
he shall show (to thee) all that thou shalt do. Do
thou tell him nothing.” ’ Thus spake the arch- 3
angel to Adam. But he kept the word in his
heart, and with him also Eve, though they grieved
concerning Abel their son.

And after this, Adam knew Eve his wife, and iv. 1
she conceived and bare Seth.

And Adam said to Eve: ‘See! we have be- 2
gotten a son in place of Abel, whom Cain slew, —
let us give glory and sacrifice to God.’

And Adam begat thirty sons and thirty v. 1
daughters and Adam lived nine hundred and
thirty years; and he fell sick and cried with a loud 2
voice and said, ‘ Let all my sons come to me
that I may see them before I die.’

VITA ADAE ET EVAE.

Vision of Adam, xxv—-xxix.

xxv. 1 And Adam said to Seth, ‘Hear, my son Seth, that I may relate to thee what I heard and

2 saw after your mother and I had been driven out of paradise.

When we were at prayer, there

3 came to me Michael the archangel, a messenger of God. And I saw a chariot like the wind and
its wheels were fiery and I was caught up into the Paradise of righteousness, and I saw the

xxiii. 2, one hundred and twenty-two. Cf. Jub. iv. 3 (Charles’s note); Abel there is twenty-two.
xxiv. 2. sixty-three. Cf. Jub. iv. 10 (Charles’ note): Jub. says ‘nine’; ‘ Conflict of A. and E.’ says ‘five’; Arm.

omits ‘thirty daughters’.

xxv. I. Seth. Some MSS. have preface explaining choice of Seth, D.A. 8. says it was told to a// his sons.
2. at prayer. D. A.B. says ‘where he was standing in Jordan’,

3. fiery. Cf. 2 Kings ii. 11; Ezek. i; Apoc. Mos, xxxiii.
Heavenly Paradise, as in 2 En. and 1 En. (xxxii. 3).

Paradise of righteousness.

Elsewhere in Vita either

garden of Eden on ear¢h or ‘ third Heaven’ (e.g. Apoc. Mos. xxvii, xl.1), not in presence of God, as here.

4. said DE: AC +‘to Eve’.

Let us arise and go C E: D is better Greek (ἀναστάντες), but less original.
what has happened A D: C ‘ what is this dream about our sons’: Arm. ‘ to see about our sons’.
assailing. C prefixes ἐλθών = ‘ has come and is assailing ’,

iii. 2. archangel B C E Slav.: A D ‘angel’.

the secret. Arm. changes to ‘the secret of the vision’ (i.e, Vita xxv-xxix),

son of wrath. Eph. ii, 3.
his stead (Gen. iv. 25).

tell him nothing A C Arm, Tisch,
᾿ 3: also Eve. E Slav. expand.

Here not in Abel’s, but in Cain’s stead (Kabisch).
all that thou shalt do. Arm. alters to ‘all that I shall do’ (for same reason cf. Introd. 3, 4).

A+ ‘to him’.

iv. 2, glory and sacrifice: So A. CD read ‘glorify God and give worship’: B ‘glory’: E Slav. ‘praise and

A sacrifice’: Arm. ‘ praise and glory’.

Cf. ‘ Conflict ’, I. ii-xi.

ν, 1. And Adam lived... years DB Slav. Arm. AC >.

2, sick Arm.: E ‘a little sick’: C ‘a great disease’.

ct die C +‘and he sent off his son Seth to all to tell them’,

139

XXVi.

XXVii,

XXViii,

Xxix,

THE BOOKS OF ADAM AND EVE

Lord sitting and his face was flaming fire that could not be endured. And many thousands of
angels were on the right and the left of that chariot. i
1 When I saw this, I was confounded, and terror seized me and I bowed myself down before

2 God with my face to the earth. And God said to me, ‘ Behold thou diest, since thou hast trans-

gressed the commandment of God, for thou didst hearken rather to the voice of thy wife, whom
I gave into thy power, that thou mightst hold her to thy will. Yet thou didst listen to her and
didst pass by My words.’

1 And when I heard these words of God, I fell prone on the earth and worshipped the Lord
and said, ‘My Lord, All powerful and merciful God, Holy and Righteous One, let not the
name that is mindful of Thy majesty be blotted out, but convert my soul, for I die and my

2 breath will go out of my mouth. Cast me not out from Thy presence, (me) whom Thou didst
form of the clay of the earth. Do not banish from Thy favour him whom Thou didst nourish.’

And lo! a word concerning thee came upon me and the Lord said to me, ‘Since thy days
twere fashioned}, thou hast been created with a love of knowledge; therefore there shall not be
taken from thy seed for ever the (right) to serve Me.’

1 And when I heard these words, I threw myself on the earth and adored the Lord God and
said, ‘Thou art the eternal and supreme God ; and all creatures give thee honour and praise.
2 ‘Thou art the true Light gleaming above all light(s), the Living Life, infinite mighty Power.
To Thee, the spiritual powers give honour and praise. Thou workest on the race of men the

abundance of Thy mercy.’

3 After I had worshipped the Lord, straightway Michael, God’s archangel, seized my hand and
4 cast me out of the paradise Τοῦ ‘vision’} and of God’s command. And Michael held a rod in
his hand, and he touched the waters, which were round about paradise, and they froze hard.

1 And I went across, and Michael the archangel went across with me, and he led me back to
2 the place whence he had caught me up. Hearken, my son Seth, even to the rest of the secrets

{and sacraments] that shall be, which were revealed to me, when I had eaten of the tree of the

3 knowledge, and knew and perceived what will come to pass in this age ; [what God intends to do

4 to his creation of the race of men. The Lord will appear in a flame of fire (and) from the
mouth of His majesty He will give commandments and statutes [from His mouth will proceed
a two-edged sword] and they will sanctify Him in the house of the habitation of His majesty.

5 And He will show them the marvellous place of His majesty. And then they will build a house
to the Lord their God in the land which He shall prepare for them and there they will trans-
gress His statutes and their sanctuary will be burnt up and their land will be deserted and they

6 themselves will be dispersed ; because they have kindled the wrath of God. And once more He
will cause them to come back from their dispersion ; and again they will build the house of God;

7 and in the last time the house of God will be exalted greater than of old. And once more iniquity
will exceed righteousness. And thereafter God will dwell with men on earth [in visible form]; and
then, righteousness will begin to shine. And the house of God will be honoured in the age and
their enemies will no more be able to hurt the men, who are believing in God; and God will stir up
for Himself a faithful people, whom He shall save for eternity, and the impious shall be punished

flaming fire. Cf. 1 En. (xiii-xvii) for description of God’s dwelling, &c,

xxvi. 2, rather II 2” primis; 1 prius. 11 (Meyer) plus. to thy wife. Cf. Apoc. Mos. xxiv.

xxvii, I. name. Hebrew expression = personality. Cf. Kautzsch, Hastings’ 2. D., art. ‘ Religion of Israel ’.

2. didst form. J/asmasti (Graecism).

favour. II gratia: 1 gratiae.
3. concerning thee = ¢uum (verbum).
came upon me. izzcedit 11 5: incendit, ‘ inflamed’ II 17.
were fashioned. +figurantur (Meyer). All MSS. corrupt.
love of knowledge. See Introd. § 6.
xxviii, 2. Light ... Life . . . Power. Gnostic epithets.
mighty. So Fuchs. MSS. corrupt. II 5, III 2 magnitudinis: 1 matutine: 11 3 magna.

3. vision and of God’s command. II 3. 17 vistomis: 11 5 and III wisttationis et visionis: Fuchs with Cod.
Wright visitations et ‘ussionis.

4. arod. virgam 11 (and so Fuchs): 1 tvértutes.

froze hard. Sea of ice round Paradise. Cf. 2 En. iii. 3; Rev. iv. 6, xv. 2; Test. Lev. iii. 2; Jellinek, Bet
ha-Midrasch iv. 132. Perhaps = ‘ Acherusian Lake’ (Apoc. Mos. xxxvii-xxxix).

xxix, 2. [and sacraments] II III. Meyer brackets as a gloss. I (and Fuchs) >.

3-10. In II (3, 5, 9, 17), 11 (18 only), IV. Interpolation. First part (3-6)—‘ what God . . . than of old ’—may
be fragment of Jewish Apocalypse ; last part certainly Christian.

6. greater than of old (maior guam prius). Bousset refers this to Herod's temple; perhaps more likely
the Messianic one. Cf. 1 En. xci. 13.

7. in visible form, ἄς. These phrases are certain marks of Christian origin. [Cf. Ps. lxxxiv. 7, LXX Vulg.
T. Zeb. ix. ὃ where God is spoken of as being seen by men. There is no good reason for regarding xxix. 3-10 as
Christian with the exception of a few words,—Gen. Editor.]

140

THE BOOKS OF ADAM AND EVE

by God their king, the men who refused to love His law. Heaven and earth, nights and days, and

all creatures shall obey Him, and not overstep His commandment. Men shall not change their
9 works, but they shall be changed from forsaking the law of the Lord. Therefore the Lord shall
᾿ repel from Himself the wicked, and the just shall shine like the sun, in the sight of God. And
10 in that time, shall men be purified by water from their sins. But those who are unwilling to be
purified by water shall be condemned. And happy shall the man be, who hath ruled his soul,
when the Judgement shall come to pass and the greatness of God be seen among men and their

deeds be inquired into by God the just judge.

ViTA ADAE ET EVAE.

1 After Adam was nine hundred and thirty
years old, since he knew that his days were
coming to an end, he said: ‘Let all my sons
assemble themselves to me, that I may bless
them before I die, and speak with them.’

2 And they were assembled in three parts, before
his sight, in the house of prayer, where they used
_ 3toworship the Lord God. And they asked him
_ (saying): ‘ What concerns thee, Father, that thou
shouldst assemble us, and why dost thou lie on

4thy bed?’ Then Adam answered and said:

‘My sons, I am sick and in pain.’ And all his

sons said to him: ‘What does it mean, father,
this illness and pain?’

xxi. 1. Then said Seth his son: ‘O (my) lord, per-
_ chance thou hast longed after the fruit of paradise,

which thou wast wont to eat, and therefore thou

liest in sadness? Tell me and I will go to the

nearest gates of paradise and put dust on my

_ head and throw myself down on the earth before

the gates of paradise and lament and make

entreaty to God with loud lamentation; per-

chance he will hearken to me and send his angel

to bring me the fruit, for which thou hast

longed.’

2 Adam answered and said: ‘No, my son, I do

not long (for this), but I feel weakness and great

3 pain in my body.’ Seth answered, ‘ What is pain,

my lord father? I am ignorant ; but hide it not
from us, but tell us (about it).’

And Adam answered and said: ‘ Hear me, my

sons. When God made us, me and your mother,

and placed us in paradise and gave us every tree

“-
XX. I

9-1ο. purified by water, i.e. baptism.

APOCALYPSIS MOSIS.

And all assembled, for the earth was divided v. 3
into three parts. And Seth his son said to him: 4
‘Father Adam, what is thy complaint ?’

And he saith, ‘My children, I am crushed by 5
the burden of trouble. And they say to him,
‘What is trouble?’

And Seth answered and said to him: ‘Hast vi. 1
thou called to mind, father, the fruit of paradise
of which thou usedst to eat, and hast been
grieved in yearning for it?’

‘If this be so, tell me, (and) I will go and 2
bring thee fruit from paradise. For I will set
dung upon my head and will weep and pray that
the Lord will hearken to me and send his angel
(and bring me a plant from paradise), and I will
ire: it thee that thy trouble may cease from
thee.’

Adam saith to him: ‘ Nay, my son Seth, but 3
I have (much) sickness and trouble!’ Seth saith
to him: ‘ And how hath this come upon thee?’

And Adam said to him: ‘ When God made us, vii. 1
me and your mother, through whom also I die,
He gave us power to eat of every tree which is in

xxx. I. bless them. Cf. Gen. xxvii. 14, xviii. 3, 2 En. Ixiv. 4.

2. in the house of prayer. 501 coram oratorio; [1 1Π1 ante oratorium Apoc. Mos. v (AC).
Kabisch find here origin of ‘ Caaba’ legends (cf. Weil, Bib/ische Legenden der Muselmdnner).

3. parts.

SoDB. A+ ‘they came to the door of the house where he used to enter to pray to God.’

Meyer and
See Introd. §§ 1, 8,9.

So C

except that it reads ‘ before him, where’ instead of ‘to the door of the house ’.

4. Adam ABD:C>.
5. Tam crushed, ἅς.

Lit. ‘ great disease oppresses me’, ABC Ὁ Slav. (πόνος πολὺς συνέχει pe).
What is trouble ? B+‘ father’: A D+‘and sickness’.

vi. τ. in yearning for it (ἐπιθυμῆσαι αὐτῶν). Arm.A Tisch. DBC >. ?a gloss.

2. I will go (πορεύσομαι) CD: AB ‘I go’: Slav. ‘we’.

dung. Arm. ‘dust’. :
that. Lit. ‘and’ = νὰν conversive.
ra bring me a plant. Inserted for clearness—perhaps in original. B has ἐνέγκει (sic) μοι ἀπὸ τοῦ ξύλου ἐν ᾧ ῥέει τὸ
‘ €0$,
P| 3. how. . . upon thee (πῶς σοι) AC E Arm. Slav.: D ‘ how much’ (πόσοι).

vii. 1. tohim. C only has πρὸς αὐτόν as often.
tree (ξύλου) C: ABD ‘ plant’ (φυτοῦ) ; Arm. ‘fruits’.
Idie ACED: B Arm. ‘we die’.

141

XXxiii.

XXXIV.

XXXV,

XXXVi.

3 unlawful and forbidden tree.

THE BOOKS OF ADAM AND EVE

VITA ADAE ET EVAE.

bearing fruit to eat, he laid a prohibition on us
concerning the tree of knowledge of good and
evil, which is in the midst of paradise; (saying)
2*Do not eat of it.’ But God gave a part of
paradise to me and (a part) to your mother: the
trees of the eastern part and the north, which is
over against Aquilo he gave to me, and to your
mother he gave the part of the south and the
western part.
1 (Moreover) God the Lord gave us two angels
to guard us. The hour came when the angels
had ascended to worship in the sight of God;
forthwith the adversary [the devil] found an
opportunity while the angels were absent and
the devil led your mother astray to eat of the
And she did eat

ιν

and gave to me.

1 And immediately, the Lord God was wrath
with us, and the Lord said to me: ‘In that thou
hast left behind my commandment and hast not
kept my word, which I confirmed to thee; be-
hold, I will bring upon thy body, seventy blows ;
with divers griefs, shalt thou be tormented,
beginning at thy head and thine eyes and thine
ears down to thy nails on thy toes, and in every
separate limb. These hath God fappointed for
chastisement}. All these things hath the Lord
sent to me and to all our race.’

1 Thus spake Adam to his sons, and he was

seized with violent pains, and he cried out with

a loud voice, ‘What shall I do? I am in dis-

tress. So cruel are the pains with which I am

beset.’ And when Eve had seen him weeping,
she also began to weep herself, and said: ‘O Lord

my God, hand over to me his pain, for it is I

who sinned.’

3 And Eve said to Adam: ‘My lord, give me
a part of thy pains, for this hath come to thee
from fault of mine.’

1 And Adam said to Eve: ‘ Rise up and go with

[Ὁ]

ΧΧΧΙΪ. 2. your mother.
confirmed.

2. ‘tappointed for chastisementt. MSS. obscure.

all our race. Read omne genus nostrum with II III: Meyer ‘all our generations’ (omnes nostras generationes).

that one only DBEC.

2. guarding ABC: ‘watching’ DE: Arm. ‘looked to your mother for her to render worship ’.
Chagiga 16a, Ber. 60b.. Ginzberg calls these angels ‘ virtues’ (cf, Vita xxi),
Lord. C adds ‘aS their fashion (τύπος) was’; a gloss.

and I was far from her.

C only.
of which . .. not to eat.

C only.

vii. 1. paradise. A B+ ‘when we had eaten and placed His throne’.

Adam ... thou. D adds gloss from Gen. iii. 12.

builder. This saying occurs in Targ. Jer. on Gen. iii. 9. > Ὁ.

2. tome. DBE only.

seventy-two Ὁ E, Slav., Mishna Veg. i. 4, but ‘seventy’ A B C, Vita; latter is common symbolic number,

probably a correction.

ix. 1. distress (λύπῃ) C Arm. Slav.: D ‘stress’ (ἀνάγκῃ). D has a long gloss from Gen. iii. 19.

2. thy trouble DC Arm. A B ‘sickness’,

142

Incident from Eve’s tale in Apoc. Mos. xv.

xxxiv. I. was wroth. Condensed from story in Apoc. Mos. viii, xxi-xxiii.

confortavi 11 111. I in margin mandavi.

seventy Apoc. Mos. viii. 2(A BC). The ‘Cant’ (see Meyer 211) has ‘ sixty and two’.

APOCALYPSIS MosIs.

paradise, but,concerning that oneonly, Hecharged
us not to eat of it, and through this one we are
to die. And the hour drew nigh for the angels 2
who were guarding your mother to go up and
worship the Lord, and I was far from her, and
the enemy knew that she was alone and gave to
her, and she ate of the tree of which she had been
told not to eat. Then she gave also to me to eat. 3

‘And God was wroth with us, and the Lord viii.
came into paradise and called me in a terrible
voice and said: “ Adam, where art thou? And
why hidest thou from my face? Shall the house
be able to hide itself from its builder?” And he 2
saith to me: “Since thou hast abandoned my
covenant, I have brought upon thy body seventy-
two strokes; the trouble of the first stroke is
a pain of the eyes, the second stroke an affection
of the hearing, and likewise in turn all the strokes
shall befall thee.’ ”

As he said this to his sons, Adam groaned ix.
sore and said: ‘ What shall I do? I am in great
distress.’

And Eve wept and said: ‘My lord 2
Adam, rise up and give me half of thy trouble
and I will endure it; for it is on my account that
this hath happened to thee, on my account thou

Cf. Jub. iv. 22,

THE BOOKS OF

ΨΙΤΑ ADAE ET EVAE.

_. my son Seth to the neighbourhood of paradise,
and put dust on your heads and throw your-

selves on the ground and lament in the sight of
_ 2God. Perchance He will have pity (upon you)

and send His angel across to the tree of His
mercy, whence floweth the oil of life, and will give
_ you a drop of it, to anoint me with it, that I may
4 have rest from these pains, by which I am being
consumed.’

Then Seth and his mother went off to-
wards the gates of paradise. And while they
were walking, lo! suddenly there came a beast
_ 2 {a serpent] and attacked and bit Seth. And as

soon as Eve saw it, she wept and said: ‘ Alas,
wretched woman that I am. I am accursed
since I have not kept the commandment of God.’

3 And Eve said to the serpent in a loud voice:
* Accursed beast! how (is it that) thou hast not
feared to let thyself loose against the image of
God, but hast dared to fight with it?’

The beast answered in the language of men:
*Is it not against you, Eve, that our malice (is
directed)? Are not ye the objects of our rage?
2 Tell me, Eve, how was thy mouth opened to

eat of the fruit? But now if I shall begin to

reprove thee thou canst not bear it.’

ἃ.

Then said Seth to the beast: ‘God the Lord
revile thee. Be silent, be dumb, shut thy mouth,
accursed enemy of Truth, confounder and de-
stroyer. Avaunt from the image of God till the
day when the Lord God shall order thee to be
2 brought to the ordeal.’ And the beast said to

ix. 1

xxxvi. 2. oil of life. Cf. Apoc. Mos. ix. 3 (note).

xxxvii. 1, [a serpent]. A gloss to connect with tale of Fall.

revolt.
bit Seth proves work is not Sethzte.
3. how is it that, &c.

ADAM AND EVE

APOCALYPSIS MOsISs.

art beset with toils and troubles.’ But Adam 3
said to Eve,‘ Arise and go with my son Seth
near to paradise, and put earth upon your heads
and weep and pray God to have mercy upon me
and send his angel to paradise, and give me of
the tree out of which the oil floweth, and bring it
me, and I shall anoint myself and shall have
rest from my complaint.’

Then Seth and Eve went towards paradise, x, τ
and Eve saw her son, and a wild beast assailing
him, and Eve wept and said: ‘Woe is me; if 2
I come to the day of the Resurrection, all those
who have sinned will curse me saying: Eve hath
not kept the commandment of God.’ And she 3
spake to the beast: ‘ Thou wicked beast, fearest
thou not to fight with the image of God? How
was thy mouth opened? How were thy teeth
made strong? How didst thou not call to mind
thy subjection? For long ago wast thou made
subject to the image of God.’ Then the beast 4
cried out and said:

‘It is not our concern, Eve, thy greed and thy xi. 1
wailing, but thine own ; for (it is) from thee that
the rule of the beasts hath arisen. How was thy 2
mouth opened to eat of the tree concerning
which God enjoined thee not to eat of it? On
this account, our nature also hath been trans-
formed. Now therefore thou canst not endure it, 3
if I begin to reprove thee.’

Then Seth speaketh to the beast, ‘Close thy xii.
mouth and be silent and stand off from the image
of God until the day of Judgment.’ Then saith 2
the beast to Seth: ‘ Behold, I stand off from the
image of God.’ And he went to his lair.

Seth here is weak and fallible.
II+ (with A Ὁ of Apoc. Mos. x) ‘how were thy teeth made strong ?’

Originally this passage was midrash to explain beasts’

Arm. version >.

xxxvill. 2. the fruit. II+‘ which the Lord commanded thee not to eat’.

reprove. frobationem 11 111:
.. bearit. Meyer II 3.9: I>.

xxxix. I. confounder and destroyer (confusio perditionis).

and troubles. A omits.
3. earth AC: Arm. Slav. D ‘ dust’.

the tree, i.e. the Tree of Life described i in 1 En. xxiv. 3,

Rev. xxii. 2.
Studies, on ‘ Wild and tame olives’.
oil of pit

D adds gloss from Gen. iii.

Naturally conceived as an ‘ olive’—the great wealth of Mediterranean peoples.

: Latin Vita xli. 3. Cf. Apoc. Mos. xiii. 1.

Meyer comprobationem (‘ ordeal’).

A Hebraism.

4; 2 En. viii. 3; Apoc. Paul. xlv; Test. Lev. xviii. 11;

See Ramsay, Pauline

A play on words in Greek—é€Aauos, ἔλεος. Cf. Bousset,

Religion des udenthums, 327; 2 En. xxii. 8,9; Ps. Clem. Recognitions 1, 45; δ: A betta ils 12.

have rest AD: C ‘will be redeemed from (λυτρωθῶ éx) the trouble’:

which we were deceived in the former case ’—a gloss.

x. 1. a wild beast. This passage is a midrash on Gen. iii. 15. Vita xxxix+‘a serpent’
Slav. calls it ‘ Cotur’ or ‘ Gorgo’, and adds it pursued him ‘ to devour him’,

(xxxix. 1).
Eve saw. C+‘from afar’.
2. Resurrection AC D: B ‘ ‘Judgement’: ae

AB+‘I1 will show you the manner in

, and implies it was Satan

Slav. ‘ Second Advent ’.

xi, 2. transformed C D: Arm. Slav. expand. Cf. Sanh. 106 Ὁ, Pesikt. 44 b (Ginzberg).

xii. 2. lair C (κοίτην) : ABD E ‘tent’ (σκηνήν).

143

THE BOOKS OF ADAM AND EVE

Vira ADAE ET EVAE.

Seth: ‘See, I leave the presence of the image of
God, as thou hast said.’ Forthwith he left Seth,
wounded by his teeth.

But Seth and his mother walked to the regions
of paradise for the oil of mercy to anoint the sick
Adam: and they arrived at the gates of paradise,
(and) they took dust from the earth and placed
it on their heads, and bowed themselves with
their faces to the earth and began to lament and
2 make loud moaning, imploring the Lord God to
pity Adam in his pains and to send His angel to
give them the oil from the ‘tree of His mercy’,

But when they had been praying and imploring
for many hours, behold, the angel Michael ap-
2 peared to them and said: ‘I have been sent to

you from the Lord—I am set by God over the

3 bodies of men—I tell thee, Seth, (thou) man of

God, weep not nor pray and entreat on account

of the oil of the tree of mercy to anoint thy

father Adam for the pains of his body.

‘For I tell thee that in no wise wilt thou be
able to receive thereof save in the last days.’

2 [When five thousand five hundred years have
been fulfilled, then will come upon earth the
most beloved king Christ, the son of God, to
revive the body of Adam and with him to revive

3 the bodies of the dead. He Himself, the Son of
God, when He comes will be baptized in the river
of Jordan, and when He hath come out of the
water of Jordan, then He will anoint from the

4 oil of mercy all that believe in Him. And the
oil of mercy shall be for generation to generation
for those who are ready to be born again of

5 water and the Holy Spirit to lifeeternal. Then

the most beloved Son of God, Christ, descending

on earth shall lead thy father Adam to Paradise
to the tree of mercy.

‘But do thou, Seth, go to thy father Adam,
since the time of his life is fulfilled. Six days
hence, his soul shall go off his body and when

xii. Σ

ἘΠ

ΧΗ

xlili, 1

2. wounded by his teeth 11 17: I III tt.

xli, 1. angel Michael. Originally ‘ guardian angel of Israel’ (Dan. xii).
Weber, Jiidische Theologie, 168.
Jewish trait.

The MSS. reading gua = Greek ὅτι = ‘ that’.

. . tree of mercy. Christian interpolation from Gospel of

il. 27 (Ginzberg), 2 En. xxii. 6, 1 En. xx. 5.
3. man of God = prophet. Cf. 2 Kings vi. 6, &c.
xlii. 1. that.
2. When five thousand five hundred years.

Nicodemus, xix (Greek work).

king I. II III >.

xiii, 1. there ABC: D>.

APOCALYPSIS MOSIS.

And Seth went with Eve near paradise, and
they wept there, and prayed God to send his
angel and give them the oil of mercy.

And God 2
sent the archangel Michael and he spake to Seth:
‘Seth, man of God, weary not thyself with
prayers and entreaties concerning the tree which
floweth with oil to anoint thy father Adam. For
it shall not be thine now,

but in the end of the times. 3 —
Then shall all flesh be raised up from Adam
till that great day,—all that shall be of the holy
people. Then shall the delights of paradise be 4
given to them and God shall be in their midst.
And they shall no longer sin before his face, for 5
the evil heart shall be taken from them and there
shall be given them a heart understanding the
good and to serve God only.

But do thou go back to thy father. For the 6
term of his life hath been fulfilled and he will
live three days from to-day and will die. But

Cf. Midrash Konen. in Bet ha-Midrasch

oil of mercy A @Arm.: Slav. >: E B ‘mercy of mercy’ (édeos ἐλέου) : (ἔλεος ἐλαίου) D ‘ mercy of oil’ ; probably

not dittography, as Fuchs supposes, but play on words,

2. floweth with oil C (Kabisch): ‘in which flows the oil’? Ὁ A B Tisch.: E, +.
with prayers and entreaties (εὐχόμενος ἐπὶ τῇ ἱκεσίᾳ) : a Hebraism.

it shall not B C+‘ for’ (γάρ).

3-6. Then shall... God only AB, Tisch., Fuchs).

original. Cf. Apoc. Mos. xxviii. 3, 4 and cf.

ubilees xxiii. 26-9; Ezek. xxxvi. 27; 1

This short Apocalypse certainly Jewish, perha
En, ν, 4; Bamidbar rab!

17; Schem rabba 41; Weber, Jtidische Theologie, 381, 400; Volz, Jiidische Eschatologie, 359.
5. evil heart (yeser hara (YJ “¥%)). Prominent feature in later Jewish theology, as in St. Paul and 4 Ezra.

See Introd. §$ 1, 5, 6, 9.

6. will die C: Dt. three days from to-day. C only.

144

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Vita ADAE ET EVAE.

it shall have gone out, thou shalt see great
marvels in the heaven and in the earth and the
2 luminaries of heaven. With these words, straight-
way Michael departed from Seth.
3. And Eve and Seth returned bearing with them
herbs of fragrance, i.e. nard and crocus and cala-
mus and cinnamon.
And when Seth and his mother had reached
Adam, they told him, how the beast [the serpent]
2 bit Seth. And Adam said to Eve: ‘ What hast
thou done? A great plague hast thou brought
upon us, transgression and sin for all our genera-
tions: and this which thou hast done, tell thy
3 children after my death, [for those who arise
from us shall toil and fail but they shall be
4 wanting and curse us (and) say, All evils have
our parents brought upon us, who were at the
5 beginning].” When Eve heard these words, she
_ began to weep and moan.

ΝΕ

ΟῚ I
2 how the enemy deceived us.

Adam’s lot, where the male creatures were.
to your father and all the females he gave to me.|

4 as we were cast out through him.”

words to deceive him.”

xliii. 1. luminaries of Heaven.
3. herbs of fragrance.
Slav. Vita xxviii-xxx.

after my death.
3. toil and fail.
4. All. MS. prefixes guoniam ; perhaps for ὅτι = ‘that’.

xiv. 2. what hast thou wrought.

xv. 1. Then saith Eve.

2. the portion allotted. Cf. Vita xxxii.

your father ABE: ‘our father’ C Ὁ.
xvi. 1. to the serpent.
art beloved before God, Eve will believe thee’.
mayst have profit A B E (ὀφεληθῇ-ς).
2. Ihear ABD: C ‘I learn’: Arm. ‘I behold’.

Cf. Vita xiv. 3. A gloss from Vita.
3. out of paradise. A B+‘ through his wife’ (a gloss).
5. deceive him C: A ‘deceive them’.

1105-2

Cf. ‘Conflict of A. and E.’i. 17; Ber. rabba, xix; Weber, 77. 219-20.

145

ADAM AND EVE

APOCALYPSIS Mosis.
when his soul is departing, thou shalt behold the
awful (scene of) his passing.’

Thus spake the angel and departed from them. xiv. 1
And Seth and Eve came to the hut where Adam
was laid. And Adam saith to Eve: ‘ Eve, what 2
hast thou wrought in us? Thou hast brought
upon us great wrath which is death, [lording it
over all our τὰς 6]. And he saith to her, ‘ Call all 3
our children and our children’s children and tell
them the manner of our transgression.’

APOCALYPSIS MOSIS.

Eve's Account of her Fall.

Then saith Eve to them: ‘ Hear all my children and children’s children and I will relate to you
It befell that we were guarding paradise, each of us the portion
3 allotted to us from God. Now I guarded in my lot, the west and the south, But the devil went to
[For God divided the creatures ; all the males he gave

t And the devil spake to the serpent saying, “ Rise up, come to me and I will tell thee a word
2 whereby thou mayst have profit.” And he arose and came to him. And the devil saith to him:
3 “I hear that thou art wiser than all the beasts, and I have come to counsel thee.

of Adam’s tares and not of paradise ? Rise up and we will cause him to be cast out of paradise, even
The serpent saith to him, “I fear lest the Lord be wroth with
5me.” The devil saith to him: “Fear not, only be my vessel and I will speak through thy mouth

Why dost thou eat

Cf. Apoc. Mos. xxxv, xxxvi.
From Eve’s tale in Apoc. Mos. xxix = Slav. Vit. xxv—inconsistent with Vita x-xii;
111+ Christian gloss from /ignum crucis legend.

xliv. 2. tell. 11 9 refer: III referent filits nostris: Meyer suggests refert.

Insertion. Contrast Apoc. Mos. xiv. 3. It shows intention of editor to omit Eve’s tale (Fuchs).
Play on words in Latin: sufficiant ... deficiant.

Perhaps a gloss.
Cf. xlii. 1 (note).

awful scene of his passing (τὴν ἄνοδον αὐτῆς φοβεράν ABD: C >.
Cf. Apoc. Mos, xxxii, Vita xviii. 1.
and 2 En. xxx. 18, our author makes Eve primary cause of sin; 4 Ezra iii. 21 lays guilt on Adam.

which is death ABCDE,,,: Arm. >. Cf. Rom. v. 14, 4 Ezra iv. 30.

[lording it over all our race] C >. Probably an interpolated gloss.
In Arm. E, Eve blames herself; in Slav. she is asked to tell her tale by her sons.

With St. Paul (2 Cor. xi. 3, 1 Tim. ii. 14)

3. where the male creatures. Both Hebrew (wn3) and Greek (ὄφις) words for ‘ serpent’ are masculine.
[For God ... to me.] AD only have this explanation.

Cf. B. C is corrupt. Arm. >.

Slav. + ‘thou

counsel thee C: AD ‘I consort with thee’ (ὁμιλέω) : Arm, ‘unite with’: A B+ ‘yet dost. thou worship the less !’

THE BOOKS OF ADAM AND EVE

xvii, 1 And instantly he hung himself from the wall of paradise, and when the angels ascended to
2 worship God, then Satan appeared in the form of an angel and sang hymns like the angels. And
I bent over the wall and saw him, like anangel. But he saith tome: “ Art thou Eve?” And I said
3 to him, “I am.” ‘ What art thou doing in paradise?” And I said to him, “ God set us to guard and
4 to eat of it.” The devil answered through the mouth of the serpent: “ Ye do well but ye do not eat
5 of every plant.” And I said: ‘‘ Yea, we eat of all, save one only, which is in the midst of paradise,
concerning which, God charged us not to eat of it: for, He said to us, on the day on which ye eat
of it, ye shall die the death.”
xviii. 1 Then the serpent saith to me, “ May God live! but I am grieved on your account, for I would not
have you ignorant. But arise, (come) hither, hearken to me and eat and mind the value of that tree.”
2, 3 But I said to him, “I fear lest God be wroth with me as he told us.” And he saith to me: “ Fear
not, for as soon as thou eatest of it, ye too shall be as God, in that ye shall know good and evil.
4 But God perceived this that ye would be like Him, so he envied you and said, Ye shall not eat of
5,6 it. Nay, do thou give heed to the plant and thou wilt see its great glory.” Yet I feared to take
of the fruit. And he saith to me: “ Come hither, and I will give it thee. Follow me.”
xix. 1 And I opened to him and he walked a little way, then turned and said to me: “1 have changed my
2 mind and I will not give thee to eat until thou swear to me to give also to thy husband.” (And) I said,
“ What sort of oath shall I swear to thee? Yet what I know, I say to thee: By the throne of the
3 Master, and by the Cherubim and the Tree of Life, I will give also to my husband to eat.” And
when he had received the oath from me, he went and poured upon the fruit the poison of his wicked-
ness, which is lust, the root and beginning of every sin, and he bent the branch on the earth and I took
of the fruit and I ate.
xx. 1 And in that very hour my eyes were opened, and forthwith I knew that I was bare of the right-
2 eousness with which I had been clothed (upon), and I wept and said to him: “Why hast thou
3 done this to me in that thou hast deprived me of the glory with which I was clothed?” But
I wept also about the oath, which I had sworn. But he descended from the tree and vanished.
4 And I began to seek, in my nakedness, in my part for leaves to hide my shame, but I found none,
for, as soon as I had eaten, the leaves showered down from all the trees in my part, except the fig-
5 tree only. But I took leaves from it and made for myself a girdle and it was from the very same
_ plant of which I had eaten.
xxl. I And I cried out in that very hour, “ Adam, Adam, where art thou? Rise up, come to me and
2 I will show thee a great secret.” But when your father came, I spake to him words of transgression
3 [which have brought us down from our great glory]. For, when he came, I opened my mouth and

xvii. I. he hung. E reads ‘the devil inside the serpent hung’, as Moslem fable in Weil, B. Z. der 277.
when. A B prefix ‘about the (‘ninth’ B) hour.’
form of an angel. Cf. 2 Cor. xi. 14. Points to old idea of a literal seduction; cf. Gen. vi. I-6; 1 En. vi-xii,
Ixxxviii-xc ; Sota ix. 9: Ber. rabba xxiv ; Jalk. Schim. Ber. xlii.
2. Slav. reads ‘I thought him an angel since he came from Adam’s district’—emphasizing this feature throughout ;
Arm. weakens it.
4. every plant BC D. ‘all plants’ A.
5. die the death. A Hebraism; lit. ‘die with death’ (θανάτῳ ἀποθανεῖσθε).
xviii. D breaks off here till xxxvi.
1. I would not have youignorant. Arm. ‘I desire not your ignorance’: A B+‘for ye are as beasts’; a gloss:
ABCE Slav. ‘since ye understand nothing’.
3. ye.-.asGod C.
4. God perceived ... envied you. With Tisch. AB: C >.
5. ἘΝ Arm. alters this Midrash on Gen. iii. 6 to ‘the glory of the Highest’ (Gnostic?): AB+long gloss
(Gen. iii. 6).
xix, 1. Topened. C Arm.: E >: B ‘he opened’: Arm.+Gnostic gloss to the effect that Eve is without paradise
—first brought in by the serpent.
2. What sort of oath (ποῖον ὅρκον) C: A B E Arm.+‘I know not’.
3. poured upon. So Tisch. emends MSS.
the root and beginning of every sinC: AB‘head’. Fuchs thinks this is play on words in Hebrew (ἐόν = YN7
and κεφαλή = WN1=‘head’). Idea is common among Rabbis, e.g. Aboda Zara 22b; 1 En. Ixix. 6; Slav. Bar.
xc. 7; Apoc. Abraham xxiii; Gen. Rabb. xix.6; Ab. R. Nathan v. 6. Cf. James i. 15.
he bent E Arm.: ABC ‘I bent’.
I ate (Gen. iii. 6) C E Arm. Slav.
xx. I. clothed (upon) (ἐνδεδυμένη) AB Tisch. Cf. 2 Cor. v. 2; Isa. Ixi. 10.
3. which I had sworn CE.
4. my part AB: Ct.
5. very same plant ABC Slav. Ber. rabba xv; Schatzhéhle; Test. Adam. agree with our author that this was
a fig-tree. Apoc. Abraham xxiii calls it ‘a grape’; Beresch. xl. 8 ‘barley’; Samuel Ben Isaac ‘a date’.
xxi. I. secret (μυστήριον) C: Arm. Slav. miradilia,
2. [which have ... glory]. Only AB Arm. A gloss.
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the devil was speaking, and I began to exhort him and said, “ Come hither, my lord Adam, hearken
to me and eat of the fruit of the tree of which God told us not to eat of it, and thou shalt be as
4a God.” And your father answered and said, “I fear lest God be wroth with me.” And I said to

5 him, “Fear not, for as soon as thou hast eaten thou shalt know good and evil.” And speedily
I persuaded him, and he ate and straightway his eyes were opened and he too knew his nakedness.

6 And to me he saith, “ O wicked woman! what have I done to thee that thou hast deprived me of
the glory of God?”

1 And in that same hour, we heard the archangel Michael blowing with his trumpet and calling to

_2 the angels and saying: “ Thus saith the Lord, Come with me to paradise and hear the judgement
with which I shall judge Adam.” :

3 And when God appeared in paradise, mounted on the chariot of his cherubim with the angels pro-
ceeding before him and singing hymns of praises, all the plants of paradise, both of your father’s lot

4and mine, broke out into flowers. And the throne of God was fixed where the Tree of Life was.

1 And God called Adam saying, “ Adam, where art thou? Can the house be hidden from the presence

2 of its builder?” Then your father answered ; “ It is not because we think not to be found by thee,
Lord, that we hide, but I was afraid, because I am naked, and I was ashamed before thy might,

3 (my) Master.” God saith to him, “ Who showed thee that thou art naked, unless thou hast forsaken my

4 commandment, which I delivered thee to keep (it).’ Then Adam called to mind the word which
I spake to him, (saying) “ I will make thee secure before God”; and he turned and said to me: “ Why

5 hast thou done this?”’ And I said, “ The serpent deceived me.”

1 God saith to Adam: “ Since thou hast disregarded my commandment and hast hearkened to thy
wife, cursed is the earth in thy labours.

2 Thou shalt work it and it shall not give its strength: thorns and thistles shall spring up for thee,
᾿ς and in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread. [Thou shalt be in manifold toils; thou shalt
be crushed by bitterness, but of sweetness shalt thou not taste.]

3 Weary shalt thou be and shalt not rest; by heat shalt thou be tired, by cold shalt thou be
straitened : abundantly shalt thou busy thyself, but thou shalt not be rich; and thou shalt grow fat,
but come to no end.

4 The beasts, over whom thou didst rule, shall rise up in rebellion against thee, for thou hast not
kept my commandment.”

- 1 And the Lord turned to me and said: “Since thou hast hearkened to the serpent, and turned

2a deaf ear to my commandment, thou shalt be in throes of travail and intolerable agonies; thou
shalt bear children in much trembling and in one hour thou shalt come to the birth, and lose thy

3 life, from thy sore trouble and anguish. But thou shalt confessand say: ‘Lord, Lord, save me, and

4 I will turn no more to the sin of the flesh.’ And on this account, from thine own words I will judge
thee, by reason of the enmity which the enemy has planted in thee.”

1 But he turned to the serpent [in great wrath] and said: “ Since thou hast done this, and become
a thankless vessel until thou hast deceived the innocent hearts, accursed art thou among all beasts.

3. my lord Adam. Aboth. R. Nathan i. 6 (Ginzberg) says Eve always addressed Adam as ‘lord’.

6. what have I done C: Arm. A ‘what hast thou done ?’.

that = καί, ? for νὰν conversive: Slav. reads ‘why’. See Introd. § 7.

xxii. 1. [with his trumpet] interpolation: in A Arm. only. To soften anthropomorphisms in Genesis. Cf.
1 Thess. iv. 16; 1 Cor. xv. 52; cf. Bet ha-Midrasch ii. 61 (Jellinek).

2. judgement .. . judge (κρίματος κρίνω) A Arm. (? Hebraism): for κρίματος C has ‘word’ (ῥήματος) : Slav.
sententiam et quale tudicium.

3. and mine. Slav. contradicts—plants in Eve’s part were withered.

4. was fixed (ἐστηρίζετο) C. Cf. Targ. Jer. on Gen. vi. 9. This statement modifies 2 En. viii. 3 ‘that place on which
God rests’. A Arm. E slight variants (e. g. εὐτρεπίζετο).
_ xxiii. 1. ‘where art thou’ C. ‘ where art thou hidden’ A.

3. forsaken E A Tisch. (ἐγκατέλειπες) : Arm. ‘trangressed.’

4. secure AC E Arm. (ἀκίνδυνον).

5. I said A+‘ remembered the word of the serpent and’.

xxiv. 1. in thy works E Arm. A: C ‘ for thy sake’.

2. Thou shalt be .. . taste AC; from Gen. iii. 18.

3. Only in A (gloss).

xxv. 1. throes of travail. So Fuchs emends from AC ‘empty pains’ (ἐν ματαίοις) : E ‘empty toils’, In Hebrew
ban was misread for 53n.

2. trembling (rpépos). Tisch. emends from τρόποις (‘ways’) CA: Arm. E ‘with great sorrow’.

3. no more E (οὐκέτι) C ‘ not’.
sin of the flesh A: BCE ‘thy flesh’: Arm. ‘against my body’!

4. in thee. AB + ‘And thou shalt turn to thy husband and he shall rule over thee.’

xxvil. 1. turned...andC. AB >.

a thankless vegsel (σκεῦος dydpiorov) ABE: Arm. ‘offspring of wickedness’, perhaps = Hebrew

binds 5 = ‘instrument of Belial’ (Fuchs). Cf. xvi. 8.

innocent hearts (παρειμένους τῇ καρδίᾳ) AC: B παρισταμένους : Arm. ‘the upright in heart.’ E >.

147 L 2

XXvii. 1,

XXVill,

KXIX- 1,

XXX,

XXX1.

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2 Thou shalt be deprived of the victual of which thou didst eat and shalt feed on dust all the days of

3 thy life ; on thy breast and thy belly shalt thou walk and be robbed of hands and feet. There
shall not be left thee ear nor wing, nor one Jimb of all that with which thou didst ensnare them in —

4 thy malice and causedst them to be cast out of paradise ; and I will put enmity between thee and ©
his seed ; he shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel until the day of Judgement.”

2 Thus he spake and bade the angels have us cast out of paradise: and as we were being driven out
amid our loud lamentations, your father Adam besought the angels and said: “Leave me a little
(space) that I may entreat the Lord that he have compassion on me and pity me, for I only

3 have sinned.” And they left off driving him and Adam cried aloud and wept saying: “ Pardon me,

4 Ὁ Lord, my deed.” Then the Lord saith to the angels, “ Why have ye ceased from driving Adam
from paradise ἢ Why do ye not cast him out? Is it I who have done wrong? Or is my judgement —

5 badly judged?” Then the angels fell down on the ground and worshipped the Lord saying, “ Thou
art just, O Lord, and thou judgest righteous judgement.”

1 But the Lord turned to Adam and said: “I will not suffer thee henceforward to be in paradise.”

2 And Adam answered and said, “ Grant me, O Lord, of the Tree of Life that I may eat of it, before

3 I be cast out.” Then the Lord spake to Adam, “ Thou shalt not take of it now, for I have com-
manded the cherubim with the flaming sword that turneth (every way) to guard it from thee that

4thou taste not of it; but thou hast the war which the adversary hath put into thee; yet when
thou art gone out of paradise, if thou shouldst keep thyself from all evil, as one about to die, when
again the Resurrection hath come to pass, I will raise thee up and then there shall be given to thee
the Tree of Life.”

2 Thusspake the Lord and ordered us to be cast out of paradise. But your father Adam wept
before the angels opposite paradise and the angels say to him: “ What wouldst thou have us to do,

3 Adam?” And your father saith to them, “ Behold, ye cast me out. I pray you, allow me to
take away fragrant herbs from paradise, so that I may offer an offering to God after I have gone out

4 of paradise that he hear me.” And the angels approached God and said: “JAEL, Eternal King,
command, my Lord, that there be given to Adam incense of sweet odour from paradise and seeds

5 for his food.” And God bade Adam go in and take sweet spices and fragrant herbs from paradise

6 and seeds for his food. And the angels let him go and he took four kinds: crocus and nard and —
calamus and cinnamon and the other seeds for his food: and, after taking these, he went out of

7 paradise. And we were on the earth.

t Now then, my children, I have shown you the way in which we were deceived; and do ye guard
yourselves from transgressing against the good.’

1 And when Eve had said this in the midst of her sons, while Adam was lying ill and bound to die

2 after a single day from the sickness which had fastened upon him, she saith to him: ‘ How is it that

3 thou diest and I live or how long have I to live after thou art dead? Tell me.’ And Adam saith
to her: ‘ Reck not of this, for thou tarriest not after me, but even both of us are to die together.

2. hands and feet A+‘thy’: B+long gloss explaining sin as sensual.

The serpent = (Satan) has limbs in Apoc. Abrah. xxiii ; Targ. Jon. on Gen. iii; Ber. Rabb. xix, xx; Jalk. Schim.
ix. 11. Cf. Wisd. ii. 26; 2 En. xxxi. 3; and cf. Jubilees iii. 23 (Charles’ note).

4. day of Judgement A BArm.: C ‘day of thy life’ (Gen. iii. 14).

xxvii. 3. Pardon me Slav. +‘ Allow me food that I may live’. Text of Slav. in disorder; read xxvi after xxvii.

4. driving Adam AB: Arm.E +‘ why have ye hearkened to him?’

xxviii. 2. before = πρό with genitive and infinitive.

3. take of B Tisch. Arm.: C ‘taste of’.

of it AB Arm.+‘ and be immortal for ever’ (Gen. iii. 22).

4. about to (μέλλων) C: AB ‘willing to’ (βουλόμενος) : Arm. ‘thinkest on death’. Ginzberg, with Gen. rabba xx};
Apost. Const. vii, xxiv, emends to ‘thou wilt die.’ Cf. Apoc. Mos. xiv; Haggada on Gen. iii. 17-22. Contrast
Vita xxix, xli. (Christian.)

xxix. 3. Behold AB: C ‘since’.

so that = ὅπως with future indicative (C).
Cf. ‘Conflict’ I. xxiv. Slight variations in A BC Arm. Slav.

4. Jael (A B) = ‘ Jah-El' Ox-™), Hebrew for ‘ Lord God’: C >. Arm. has ‘ Hojil’: E Slav. ‘ Joel’, confused with
angel in xxxii and xliv, Apoc. Abraham x. 20, xvii. 22.

5. and seeds for his food E; cf. Slav. Vita xxv. 4, xxviii. Arm. omits the request, but says they were given: ~
AC says God let him take ‘fragrant herbs for his food’ (cf. Mishna Taanit i. 6): B says ‘for sacrifice’ only; cf. Jub.
iii. 27: E seems to preserve original.

6. four Arm.E: Slav. ‘three’: AB ‘both’. Jubilees mentions ‘ frankincense, galbanum and stacte’, The same
four as in our text are mentioned in Arm. A B C.

7. were (ἐγενόμεθιι). C ‘were present’ (παραγεγόναμεν) : Arm. ‘saw ourselves placed on the earth’: Slav. ‘ sat before
yate of paradise’. Passage parallel to Vita i-x follows in Slav. :

xxx. I. children ( ; A Tisch. τεκνία ; diminutive. ΡΞ

transgressing (παραβαίνειν) C. AB ‘ forsaking.’
xxxi. 2. have I to live B: C ‘do 1 desire to live’ (θέλω): A >.
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And fshe shall lie} in my place. But when I die, anoint me: and let no man touch me till the
4 angel of the Lord shall speak somewhat concerning me. For God will not forget me, but will seek
His own creature ; and now arise rather and pray to God till I give up my spirit into His hands
who gave it me. For we know not how we are to meet our Maker, whether He be wroth with us, or
be merciful and intend to pity and receive us.’

,»2 And Eve rose up and went outside and fell on the ground and began to say: ‘I have sinned,
O God, I have sinned, O God of All, I have sinned against Thee. I have sinned against the elect
_ angels. I have sinned against the Cherubim. I have sinned against Thy fearful and unshakable
Throne. I have sinned before Thee and all sin hath begun through my doing in the creation.’
3 Even thus prayed Eve on her knees ; (and) behold, the angel of humanity came to her, and raised
4 her up and said ; ‘ Rise up, Eve, (from thy penitence), for behold, Adam thy husband hath gone out
of his body. Rise up and behold his spirit borne aloft to his Maker.’

1 And Eve rose up and wiped off her tears with her hand, and the angel saith to her, ‘ Lift up thy-
2 self from the earth.’ And she gazed steadfastly into heaven, and beheld a chariot of light, borne by
_ four bright eagles, (and) it were impossible for any man born of woman to tell the glory of them or
3 behold their face—and angels going before the chariot—and when they came to the place where
4 your father Adam was, the chariot halted and the Seraphim. And I beheld golden censers, between
your father and the chariot, and all the angels with censers and frankincense came in haste to the
5 incense-offering and blew upon it and the smoke of the incense veiled the firmaments. And the
angels fell down and worshipped God, crying aloud and saying, ‘JAEL, Holy One, have pardon, for
he is Thy image, and the work of Thy holy hands.’

1 And I Eve beheld two great and fearful wonders standing in the presence of God and I wept for
2 fear, and I cried aloud to my son Seth and said, ‘ Rise up, Seth, from the body of thy father Adam,
and come to me, and thou shalt see a spectacle which no man’s eye hath yet beheld.’

VITA ADAE ET EVAE. APOCALYPSIS MOsIS.

-1 And just as Michael the archangel had fore-
2 told, after six days came Adam’s death. When
Adam perceived that the hour of his death was
at hand, he said to all his sons: ‘Behold, I am
nine hundred and thirty years old, and if I die,
3 bury me towards the sunrising fin the field of
yonder dwelling}.’ And it came to pass that
when he had finished all his discourse, he gave
up the ghost.

Then Seth arose and came to his mother and xxxv. 1
to her he saith: ‘What is thy trouble? Why
weepest thou?’ (And) she saith to him: ‘Look 2
up and see with thine eyes the seven heavens
opened, and see how the soul of thy father lies
on its face and all the holy angels are praying
on his behalf and saying: “ Pardon him, Father
of All, for he is Thine image.”’ Pray, my child 3
Seth, what shall this mean? And will he one

day be delivered into the hands of the Invisible
Father, even our God? But who are the two 4

3. she shall lie A BC: Arm. E ‘ you shall be laid ’—change of person marks confused text.
touch A C: ‘see’ Arm.

4. His own creature C: A B Arm. ‘the vessel He hath fashioned’: B+ gloss from John vi. 37.
our Maker A B Arm.: C ‘him’ (αὐτόν).
pity us C: A>: B Arm. ‘turn to pity us’ (ἐπιστρέψῃ τοῦ ἐλεῆσαι ἡμᾶς).
xxxii. 2. Ihave sinned. Eve’s prayer-text. SoC. EAB Slav. expand. Cf. Luke xv. 21.
3. the angel of humanity. Michael (cf. Vita xli): Arm. B ‘ angel of the lover of mankind’.
4. thy penitence. B+ ‘and thy prayer’.
his Maker C: AB+‘to meet Him’: Arm.+‘ to be before Him’.
xxxiii. I. with her hand Arm. E: A B C ‘ set her hand on her face’.
2. gazed steadfastly (ἀτενίσασα) C: A ἠτένισεν. Cf. Acts vii. 55.

(and) it. Lit. ‘which’ (6A: ἅ ().

tell (εἰπεῖν) AC: Arm. ‘ write’.
3. Only in A Tisch.

B ends here.

4. the firmaments. A only. See Introd. ὃ 9. Cf. xxxv. 2 (seven heavens). Cf. Charles, Introd. to 2 En. and
notes on Test. Levi ii, iii.
5. holy (ἁγίων) hands C Tisch.: Arm. ‘ blameless hands’ :, A ‘ hands’ simply.
xxxiv. I. wonders (μυστήρια). Lit. ‘ secrets’ C: Arm. Slav. ‘ wonders’: A+‘ standing in the presence of God’,
xly. 2. tin the field of yonder dwelling.+ II III ix agro habitationis illius. 1 magnum’.

So again in xxxiv. I.

Slav. >.

xxxv. I. what is thy trouble? A: C >.

2. soul. Arm. only. Others read ‘ body’ wrongly (so Charles). holy angels A: C > ‘holy’.
3. what shall this mean? C: AE Slav. >: Arm. ‘ what shall I be?’ even our God A >.
4. Text as Ὁ, A shorter.

who are Arm.

D begins again.

149

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VITA ADAE ET EVAE.

(Then) was the sun darkened and the moon
xlvi. t and the stars for seven days, and Seth in his
mourning embraced from above the body of his
father, and Eve was looking on the ground with
hands folded over her head, and all her children
wept most bitterly. And behold, there appeared
2 Michael the angel and stood at the head of Adam
and said to Seth: ‘ Rise up from the body of thy
3 father and come to me and see what is the doom
of the Lord God concerning him. His creature
is he, and God hath pitied him.’
And all angels blew their trumpets, and cried :
xlvii, 1 ‘ Blessed art thou, O Lord, for thou hast had pity
on Thy creature.’

Then Seth saw the hand of God stretched out
holding Adam and he handed him over to
2 Michael, saying: ‘Let him be in thy charge till

the day of Judgement in punishment, till the last

years when I will convert his sorrow into joy.
3 Then shall he sit on the throne of him who hath
been his supplanter.’

xlviii. 1

ADAM AND EVE

APOCALYPSIS MOsIs.
negroes who stand by at the prayers for thy
father Adam?’

And Seth telleth his mother, that they are x
the sun and moon and themselves fall down and
pray on behalf of my father Adam. Eve saith 2
to him: ‘And where is their light and why have
they taken on such a black appearance?’ And 3
Seth answereth her, ‘The light hath not left
them, but they cannot shine before the Light of
the Universe, the Father of Light ; and on this
account their light hath been hidden from
them.’

Now while Seth was saying this to his mother,
lo, an angel blew the trumpet, and there stood
up all the angels (and they were) lying on their
faces, and they cried aloud in an awful voice and
said: ‘Blessed (be) the glory of the Lord from 2
the works of His making, for He hath pitied
Adam the creature of His hands.’ But when the 3
angels had said these words, lo, there came one
of the seraphim with six wings and snatched up
Adam and carried him off to the Acherusian lake,
and washed him thrice, in the presence of God.

And God saith to him: ‘Adam, what hast
thou done? If thou hadst kept my command-
ment, there would now be no rejoicing among
those who are bringing thee down to this place.
Yet, I tell thee that I will turn their joy to grief 2
and thy grief will I turn to joy, and I will trans-
form thee to thy former glory, and set thee on
the throne of thy deceiver. But he shall be cast 3
into this place to see thee sitting above him,
then he shall be condemned and they that heard
him, and he shall be grieved sore when he seeth

thee sitting on his honourable throne.’

xlvi. 1. sun darkened, ἄς. Abbreviated from Apoc. Mos. xxxvi—ordinary setting to Jewish ‘ Apocalypse’. Cf. Matt,

xxiv. 29; 2 En. xiv. 2-4; Test. Adam, &c.

hands folded over her head. Fuchs compares 2 Sam. xiii. 19 for this attitude in mourning.

her head.

II 9 Meyer + ‘and leaning her head on her knees.’
most bitterly. Lit. ‘ wept with most bitter weeping’
3. what is the doom: guzd disponat de eo, Meyer I II.

, a Hebraism.

xlvii. 1. blew their trumpets. Lit. ‘ sang and spake with the trumpets ’.

xlvili. 2. Judgement = disfensationis Meyer II III.
3. his supplanter.

I defensionist.
Il gui supplantavit, 111 seduxit, 1 plantavi cum +; Vita xlvii = Apoc. Mos. xxxix,

xxxvi. 1. that ὅτι D. So I read for οὗτοι. ‘these’ (A C Tisch.): Slav. >: Arm. ‘those men.’

3. Light of the Universe A C D; cf. 2 En. xiv. 2-4.
Father of Light D Arm. only ; cf. James i. 17.
A ends here. :
xxxvii. 2. Adam C Arm, Slav.: Ὁ >.
3. carried him off D: C >.
Acherusian. So Tisch. EC:
hands’.
stream’ of 1 En. xiv. 19 seq., xxiii. 2.
xxxix. This chapter displaced ; see Introd, ὃ 1.
1. this place = ‘ Acherusian lake’,
2. transform theet .. .
3. grieved sore C: Ὁ > ‘sore’ (πολλά).
honourable throne. D > ‘honourable’ (τιμίου).
sitting ... throne.

D ‘Agerusian’: Slav. locum gerusi: Arm. ἀχειροποίητον = (sea) ‘not made with
Cf. Apoc. Pauli xxxi; 2 En. x. 2; ‘ Conflict’ I. vi. 17; Plato, Phaedo, 173 ἃ.

Cf. Greek Acheron, and ‘fiery

E Arm. add gloss ‘I send him into the Gehenna of fire.’
glory. 501 read with Arm.:

D ‘to thy beginning’: C t.

Cf. Isa, xiv. 12-18; Matt. xi. 23, xxiii. 12; Vita Adae xv, xvi.

150

ΨΙΤΑ ADAE ET EVAE.

i. 4 And the Lord said again to the angels Michael
and Uriel: ‘Bring me three linen clothes of
byssus and spread them out over Adam and
other linen clothes over Abel! his son and bury
Adam and Abel his son.’

5 And all the ‘powers’ of angels marched
before Adam, and the sleep of the dead was
6consecrated. And the angels Michael and
Uriel buried Adam and Abel in the parts of
Paradise, before the eyes of Seth and his mother
ἡ [and no one else], and Michael and Uriel said:

xlviii. 4. and ...hisson. II III only.

Adae (III and Slav.), at Hebron. Cf. Fabric. i. to.
powers = viriutes. See xxi, 1.
6. [and no one else] 1 >. A gloss.

from ‘ third Heaven’,

Paul xviii. 2; Test. Levi iii; Chagiga 12 Ὁ.
told him.
3. Lord of
a marvel.’

5. Then Adam’s body...
2. third heaven C : Arm. ‘second heaven’: D >.
oil of fragrance. Cf. 2 En. viii.

three great angels. C >.

3. Let the body. C imperative: D infinitive mood.
Abel, Arm.+ ‘righteous’.

my reckoning C D: Arm. ‘day of renewal’: Slav. ‘my resurrection’.

THE BOOKS OF ADAM AND EVE

APOCALYPSIS MosIs.

And he stayed there three hours, lying down, xxxvii. 4
and thereafter the Father of all, sitting on his
holy throne stretched out his hand, and took
Adam and handed him over to the archangel
Michael saying: ‘ Lift him up into Paradise unto 5
the third Heaven, and leave him there until that
fearful day of my reckoning, which I will make in
the world.” Then Michael took Adam and left 6
him where God told him.

But after all this, the archangel asked concern- xxxviii.
ing the laying out of the remains. And God 2
commanded that all the angels should assemble
in His presence, each in his order, and all the
angels assembled, some having censers in their
hands, and otherstrumpets. And lo! the ‘ Lord 3
of Hosts’ came on and four winds drew Him and
cherubim mounted on the winds and the angels
from heaven escorting Him and they came on
the earth, where was the body of Adam. And 4
they came to paradise and all the leaves of para-
dise were stirred so that all men begotten of
Adam slept from the fragrance save Seth alone,
because he was born ‘according to the appoint-
ment of God’. Then Adam’s body lay there in 5
paradise on the earth and Seth grieved exceed-
ingly over him.

Then God spake to the archangel(s) Michael, x}, τα
(Gabriel, Uriel, and Raphael): ‘Go away 2
to Paradise in the third heaven, and strew
linen clothes and cover the body of Adam and
bring oil of the ‘oil of fragrance’ and pour it
over him. And they acted thus did the three
great angels and they prepared him for burial.
And God said: ‘Let the body of Abel also be 3
brought.’ And they brought other linen clothes
and prepared his (body) also. For he was unburied 4
since the day when Cain his brother slew him ;

bury ;
5. thesleep. SolIIII. I has dormitatio =‘resting-place’. According to Schatzhéhle (Christian), Ibn Ater, Abdul
Serag, Adam was buried at Jerusalem; according to Jews, e.g. Ber. Rabba 58, Erubin 53a, Pirke R. Eliezer, and Vit.
(MSS. ΠῚ Ὁ “ἴῃ a place called Calvary’; Christian.)

xxxvii. 5. third Heaven C D: Arm. E ‘ second Heaven’: Slav. is confused and corrupt, and separates paradise

Cf. ἘΝ viii; 15 2: Cor, xit,.23 Apoc:

6. left him (ἀφῆκεν Ὁ) D E Slav. ; C + κατήλειψεν (κατήλιψεν).

D + ‘and all the angels sang an angels’ hymn marvelling at the pardon of Adam.’

xxxvili. I. laying out of the remains C: D corrupt and obscure.

osts (κύριος στρατιῶν) C: D ‘mighty lord,’ κραταιὸς κύριος.

4. born according to the appointment of God C (διὰ τὸ γεννηθῆναι καθ᾽ ὅρον τοῦ θεοῦ) : D ‘ he was there’ (ἐγένετο
ἐκεῖσε) : Charles emends to καθορᾶν (‘ to behold’ God). Arm. characteristically reads ‘ for the Lord wished to show him

over him C only. May be right, as it leads on to xl (to glorify Seth).
ΧΙ, 1. C has a fuller text and in v. 2 gives the names of four archangels.

151

THE BOOKS OF ADAM AND EVE

VITA ADAE ET EVAE. APOCALYPsIsS MOsIs.
‘Just as ye have seen, in like manner, bury | for wicked Cain took great pains to conceal (him)
your dead’ but could not, for the earth would not receive

him for the body sprang up from the earth and

a voice went out of the earth saying: ‘I will not 5
receive a companion body, till the earth which
was taken and fashioned in me cometh to me.’
At that time, the angels took it and placed it on
a rock, till Adam his father was buried. And 6
both were buried, according to the commandment
of’God, in the spot where God found the dust,
and He caused the place to be dug for two.
And God sent seven angels to paradise and they 7
brought many fragrant spices and placed them ~
in the earth, and they took the two bodies and
placed them in the spot which they had digged
and builded.

And God called and said,‘ Adam, Adam.’ And sli,
the body answered from the earth and said : ‘ Here
am I, Lord.’ And God saith to him: ‘I told 2
thee (that) earth thou art and to earth shalt thou
return. Again I promise to thee the Resurrec- 3
tion ; I will raise thee up in the Resurrection with
every man, who is of thy seed.’

Vita ADAE ET EVAE,
Eve's directions as to the Memorials of her life.

xlix. 1 Six days after, Adam died; and Eve perceived that she would die, (so) she assembled all her sons
2 and daughters, Seth with thirty brothers and thirty sisters, and Eve said to all: ‘Hear -me, my
children, and I will tell you what the archangel Michael said to us when I and your father transgressed
the command of God.
3 On account of your transgression, Our Lord will bring upon your race the anger of his judgement,
first by water, the second time by fire; by these two, will the Lord judge the whole human race.
11 But hearken unto me, my children, Make ye then tables of stone and others of clay, and write
2 on them, all my life and your father’s (all) that ye have heard and seen from us. If by water the
Lord judge our race, the tables of clay will be dissolved and the tables of stone will remain; but if
by fire, the tables of stone will be broken up and the tables of clay will be baked (hard).’

7. bury yourdead. A feature of Adam legends ; cf. Fabric. i. 1-100. ἧς

xlix. 3. by fire (Stoic). Greek idea adopted by Hellenist Jews, e.g. S¢by/. Oracl. iii. 760. : ,

1. 2. baked hard. Well-known Jewish fable. Cf. Josephus, 4z¢. 1. xi; Bousset in ZNTW, 1902; Manetho,
Syncell. Chron. x1; Jubilees, viii. 3 (Charles’ note). Egyptian derivation has been suggested 2HO for 626 (Thoth.) ;
doubtful (ἢ). Probably all accounts are Zaradle/, not dependent. _ ᾿ ἢ

In III (3, 5, 14, 17) and,Jean is added the story of Solomon finding ‘the tables’, with a conclusion announcing the
coming of Christ to judge the world. Of Greek origin (e. g. ¢abulas achiliacas = axeporoujrous). All MSS. explain
this differently. Monkish scribes here knew but little Greek.

4. the body sprang up... saying. So I read with D.

5. a companion (ἑταῖρον) C: D (and so Fuchs) reads ἕτερον, ‘another’.
onarock. 1 En. xxii. 7 and Jub. iv. 29 prove early date of this legend.
was buried D. C ‘died.’

6. and He caused . . . two 1).

7. placed them C: Ὁ >.
digged and builded CD.

xli. 1. saith (λέγει) C: D aorist.

2. return. Cf. Gen. iii. 19. Arm. and Slav. have crude Christian glosses.

3. every man C: D Arm. ‘every race of man’. (ἢ Christian.)

152

VITA ADAE ET EVAE.

When Eve had said all this to her children,
she spread out her hands to heaven in prayer,
and bent her knees to the earth, and while she
worshipped the Lord and gave him thanks, she
gave up the ghost. Thereafter, all her children
ried her with loud lamentation.

t When they had been mourning four days,
(then) Michael the archangel appeared and said
to Seth: ‘Man of God, mourn not for thy
dead more than six days, for on the seventh
day is the sign of the resurrection and the rest of
the age to come; on the seventh day the Lord
rested from all His works.’

3 Thereupon Seth made the tables.

li. 2. Man of God. Cf. xli.

ii. 17-21.

except Seth C: D says ‘all slept’.
4. prayed C +‘ in the hour of her death’.

5, Tule (ἀρχῆς) D: C ἀρετῆς (‘ virtue’).

thy handmaid. C only.

didst thou make me. Cf. Gen. ii. 23; 1 Cor. xi. 12.

153

THE BOOKS OF ADAM AND EVE

APOCALYPSIS MOsIs.

After these words, God made a seal and sealed xlii. 1
the tomb, that no one might do anything to him
for six days till his rib should return to him.
Then the Lord and his angels went to their place, 2
And Eve also, when the six days were fulfilled, 3
fell asleep. But while she was living, she wept
bitterly about Adam’s falling on sleep, for she
knew not where he was laid. For when the Lord
came to paradise to bury Adam she was asleep,
and her sons too, except Seth, till He bade Adam
be prepared for burial; and no man knew on
earth, except her son Seth. And Eve prayed (in 4
the hour of her death) that she might be buried
in the place where her husband Adam was. And
after she had finished her prayer, she saith: ‘ Lord, 5
Master, God of all rule, estrange not me thy
handmaid from the body of Adam, for from his
members didst thou make me. But deem me 6
worthy, even me unworthy that Iam and a sinner,
to enter into his tabernacle, even as I was with
him in paradise, both without separation from
each other ; just as in our transgression, we were 7
(both) led astray and transgressed thy command,
but were not separated. Even so, Lord, do not 8
separate us now.’

But after she had prayed, she gazed heaven-
wards and groaned aloud and smote her breast
and said: ‘God of All, receive my spirit,’ and
straightway she delivered up her spirit to God.

And Michael came and taught Seth how to xliii, 1
prepare Eve for burial. And there came three
angels and they buried her (body) where Adam’s
body was and Abel’s. And thereafter Michael 2
spake to Seth and saith: ‘ Lay out in this wise
every man that dieth till the day of the Resur-
rection.” And after giving him this rule; he3
saith to him: ‘Mourn not beyond six days, but
on the seventh day, rest and rejoice on it, because

_ the Lord rested. Motive here is, if possible, even more Jewish than the injunction. A symbol of Resurrection
in Sanh. 97a (Ginzberg); contrast motive in Hebrews iv. 9. This motive impossible to a Christian; cf. Jubilees

xlii. 1. sealed the tomb. Slav.+‘and made the sign of the Cross’.
2. their place C: ‘the heaven’ D Arm. (an explanation).

3. for she knew not. Motive for Eve’s grief same in all versions.
Cf. Apoc. Mos, xxxviii, which contradicts Vit. xlviii.

THE BOOKS OF ADAM AND EVE

VITA ADAE ET EVAE. APOCALYPsIS ΜΟΒΙ5. .
There follows in the following MSS.: II 3, 5, | on that very day, God rejoiceth (yea) and we —
19, 17, Jean; and Ar. 210, a long story of Solo- | angels (too) with the righteous soul, who hath —
mon finding ‘ tabulas achiliacas.’ passed away from the earth.’ Even thus ΡΝ
the angel, and ascended into heaven, glorifying —
(God) and saying: ‘ Allelujah.’ Me
[Holy, holy, holy is the Lord, in the glory of 5
God the Father, for to Him it is meet to give glory, —
honour and worship, with the eternal life-giving
spirit now and always and for ever. Amen.]
[Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts. Το
whom be glory and power for ever and for ever.
Amen.]
[Then the archangel Joel glorified God; saying,
‘Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, heaven and earth are —
full of thy glory.’

4. the angel ἢ Ὁ E: Slav. ‘archangel Joel’; see note on ‘ Jael’, xxix. 4. ὁ : ¢
5. Doxologies are later Christian additions. The first paragraph occurs in C, the second in Arm., the third in Slav.

154

THE MARTYRDOM OF ISAIAH
INTRODUCTION

δι. SHORT ACCOUNT OF THE BOOK.

THE Martyrdom of Isaiah has not survived independently, but as one of the three constituents
of the Ascension of Isaiah. In its present form we cannot be sure that the Ascension of Isaiah
existed earlier than the latter half of the second century of our era. The three constituents of which
it consists are the Martyrdom of Isaiah, the Vision of Isaiah, and the Testament of Hezekiah. The
_ first of these with which we are here mainly concerned was of Jewish origin, and is of less interest
than the other two, which were the work of Christian writers.

The Vision of Isaiah—vi—xi. 40 of the Ascension of Isaiah—is important for the knowledge it
affords us of first-century beliefs in certain circles as to the doctrines of the Trinity, the Incarnation,
the Resurrection, the Seven Heavens, &c.

The long-lost Testament of Hezekiah—ii. 13 6—iv. 18 of the same work—is of very great value
for the insight it gives us into the history of the Christian Church at the close of the first century.
Its descriptions of the worldliness and lawlessness which prevailed among clergy, of the covetousness
and vainglory and growing heresies among Christians generally, agree with similar accounts in
2 Timothy, 2 Peter, and Clement of Rome (ad Cor. iii, xxiii).

The Martyrdom of Isaiah—i. 1-2 a, 6 6-134, ii. 1-8, 10—iii. 12, v. 1 c-14—is fragmentary.
It opens with Hezekiah’s summons of Manasseh his son and of Isaiah into his presence in order that
the former should receive his dying commands relative to his duty in the coming days (i. 1-2 a).
But Isaiah assures Hezekiah that all his words will be of none effect inasmuch as Manasseh would
become the servant of Beliar and he Isaiah would be sawn asunder by Manasseh, and that no action
of Hezekiah’s could prevent his martyrdom (i. 6 ὅ--13 α). On the death of Hezekiah Manasseh
turned to evil ways and became the servant of Beliar and caused Israel to sin in every form of witch-
craft, and fornication and lawlessness (ii. 1-7). And Isaiah withdrew first to Bethlehem and then to
the mountains beyond it, where he and the prophets with him spent two years mourning and fasting
because of the apostasy of Israel (ii. 10-16). The false prophet Belchira discovers his retreat and
accuses him before Manasseh on three grounds: that he had prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem,
that he had claimed to see God, though Moses had said that no man could see God and live, and that

he had called Jerusalem Sodom, and its princes and people Gomorrah (iii. 1-12). On account of
_ these things Manasseh caused Isaiah to be sawn asunder with a wood saw, Belchira and the false
prophets standing by and deriding him (v. 1 c-14).

§2 TITLE,

The Martyrdom of Isaiah has, as we have seen, been preserved to us only in a fragmentary form
as part of the Ascension of Isaiah. The whole book was known under several names. (a) ᾿Απόκρυφον
Ἡσαΐου is the designation given to it early in the third century by Origen in his commentary on
Matthew xiii. 57 (Lommatzsch, iii. 49) καὶ “Hoatas δὲ πεπρίσθαι ὑπὸ τοῦ λαοῦ ἱστόρηται. εἰ δέ τις οὐ
προσίεται τὴν ἱστορίαν διὰ τὸ ἐν τῷ ἀποκρύφῳ Ἡσαΐᾳ αὐτὴν φέρεσθαι πιστευσάτω τοῖς ἐν τῇ πρὸς ‘EBpatovs
οὕτω γεγραμμένοις (Heb. xi. 37). See also Ep. ad Afric. 9, and the Constitutiones Apostolicae vi. 26.
(4) It was known in the fourth century as τὸ ᾿Αναβατικὸν ᾿Ησαΐου according to Epiphanius, Haer. xl. 2,
who says that it was used by his Archontici and his Hieracites. Cf. also Ixvii. 3. In like manner

erome (Comm. in Isaiam \xiv. 4) calls it his Ascensio Tsaiae. (c) Again it went by the name
Opaots “Hoatov as may be inferred from the texts of ES and L? of vi. 1. This designation appears
in Montfaucon’s and Pitra’s list of Canonical and Apocryphal books, and was used by Euthymius
Zigabenus in the eleventh century when anathematizing his Massaliani ( Victoria de Massal. Anath. iv).
This title belongs specifically and probably originally only to vi.—xi. 40. (d) Finally, it is named
the Διαθήκη Ἐζεκίου by Cedrenus I. 120-1. That such a work was incorporated in the Ascension
might also be inferred from i. 24-5 a, which describe the contents of Hezekiah’s vision. This
description is applicable to the Christian Apocalypse iii. 13 —iv. 18 and to it alone. The fact, too;
that Cedrenus quotes partially iv. 12, 14 and refers to iv. 15-18 of this very section points to the
conclusion that.such a book existed independently.

155

THE MARTYRDOM OF ISAIAH

§ 3. THE VERSIONS.

Since the Martyrdom of Isaiah was originally an independent work, we shall deal here only
with the Versions of this work and not with those that reproduce the rest of the Ascension —
of Isaiah.

(a) The Greek Version. This version existed in two forms, G! and G?, as early as the third
century. The former is lost, but its characteristics are reproduced by the Ethiopic (= E) and the
first Latin Version (= L!). Phrases and sentences of G! from every chapter of the Ascension of
Isaiah, except iv, have been preserved by the ‘Greek Legend’. This work was found by von Gebhardt
in a Greek MS. of the twelfth century, no. 1534 in the National Library at Paris, and published
by him in the Z/WT 330-53. In my edition of the Ascension of Isaiah it is reprinted from
Gebhardt’s text with one or two necessary emendations, and all the phrases taken directly from G! are
printed in thick type, and the chapter and verse placed in the margin. Of ( an actual fragment was
discovered by Grenfell and Hunt in a papyrus of the fifth or sixth century. On this fragment see my
edition, pp. xxviii-xxxi, and for the fragment itself, pp. 84-95. G1! and G? are in turn derived from
a lost archetype G, which was known in its original form to the writer of the Opus [imperfectum: seé
pp. xl-xlii of my edition.

(6) The Ethiopic Version. This is the only version that preserves in its entirety the Ascension
of Isaiah. It is, as I have shown in my edition, derived from αἰ. It is a very faithful reproduction
of the Greek. So closely does it follow the latter that it can almost always be retranslated without
difficulty. Like every version, however, with a long history behind it, it has its defects. As yet
only three MSS., αὖς, have been brought to Europe from Abyssinia. The first of these was
edited by Laurence, Ascensio [saiae Vatis, Oxoniae, 1819, and the whole three by Dillmann, Ascensio
Isaiae Aethiopice et Latine, Lipsiae, 1877, and by the present writer, Zhe Ascension of Isaiah
translated from the Ethiopic Version, which, together with the new Greek Fragment, the Latin
Versions, and the Latin Translation of the Slavonic, is here published in full, London, 1900. The
last work is based on a fresh and more accurate collation of the MSS.

(c) The Latin Versions. There were two Latin versions, one of which, L*, embraces vi—xi. 1-19,
23-40, the other, 1.1, only ii. 14— iii. 13, vii. 1-19. The former was printed by Antonius de Fantis at
Venice in 1522 from a MS. now unknown, and reprinted by Gieseler in 1832 and by Dillmann
as an appendix to his edition in 1877, and by the present writer with critical notes and corrections
in his edition of 1go0o.

The two smaller fragments, i.e. 1.1, which were first edited by Mai in 1828 from a sixth-
century Vatican MS., were re-edited by the present writer from a fresh collation of the MS.

A study of E, L', L’, the ‘Greek Legend’, and of the Slavonic Version (= S) which exists only
for vi-xi proves that E 1,1 and the ‘Greek Legend’ go back to a definite Greek text, which we might
name G!, and that S L? go back similarly to G?.

$4. RELATIONS OF THE VARIOUS VERSIONS.

Some of these relations have already been briefly indicated in the preceding section. The student
will find them dealt with at length in my edition, pp. xviii-xxxiii, xl-xlii.. As regards the Martyrdom
of Isaiah the textual affinities of all the textual authorities can be shortly summarized in the
following table :—

not existing but known in its original form to the writer of

G (= Greek Martyrdom of Isaiah as edited in the ‘ Ascension ’:
|
| the Opus Imperfectum).

αἱ (not existing but known to and G? (in part existing in the newly
used by the writer of the ‘ Greek recovered fragment ii. 4—iii. 12).
Legend’).
—
E (= Ethiopic Version). L! (= Latin Version:
ii. 14—iii. 12).

ᾧ 5. THE EXTENT OF THE MARTYRDOM OF ISATAH.

All writers save Laurence recognize a plurality of authorship in the Ascension of Isaiah, and
the independent origin of the Martyrdom of Isaiah. Ewald was the first to distinguish the works
of three different authors. Ewald’s analysis was remodelled and issucd in the following form
by Dillmann :—

i. The Martyrdom of Isaiah, of Jewish origin: 11. 1—iii. 12, v. 2-14.

ii. The Vision of Isaiah, of Christian origin: vi. 1—xi. 1, 23-40.

156

πὴ

ἀπ ee ae ie tp Oe πρὶ ee

INTRODUCTION
_ iii. The above two constituents were put together by a Christian writer, who prefixed i. 1, 2,
46-13 and appended xi. 42, 43.
iv. Finally a Christian editor incorporated the two sections ili. 13 —v. 1 and xi. 2-22, and added

also i. 3, 4 a, v. 15, 16, xi. 41.

Dillmann’s analysis has on the whole been accepted by Harnack, Schiirer, Deane, and Beer. All
these scholars have been influenced by Gebhardt’s statement that in his ‘Greek Legend’ there is

nota trace of iii. 13—-v. I, xi. 2-22, and that, accordingly, these sections were absent from the text when
_the ‘Greek Legend’ was composed. Thus according to Gebhardt, Dillmann’s analysis is confirmed
by external evidence.

But Gebhardt’s statement is wrong ; for as I have shown in my edition the writer of the ‘Greek
Legend’ was acquainted with both these sections, inasmuch as he incorporates phrases from iv. 2. 6,
8, 14, 19, xi. 19, 20. Hence Dillmann’s analysis can no longer be maintained. With the full
discussion of the questions at issue we are not here concerned. It will be sufficient to state the

conclusions at which the present writer has arrived in his edition, and these are: ‘ The conditions of

the problem are sufficiently satisfied by supposing a single editor, who had three works at his disposal,
the Martyrdom of Isaiah of Jewish origin, and the two independent works, the Testament of
Hezekiah (= iii. 13 d—iv. 18), and the Vision of Isaiah (= vi—xi. 40), of Christian origin. These he
reduced or enlarged as it suited his purpose, and put them together as they stand in our text.
Amongst the obvious editorial additions are i. 2 —6 a, 134, ii. 9, iii. 13 a, iv. 1a, 1g—v. La, 15, 16,
xi. 41-3.

We have herein given the extent of the Testament of Hezekiah, and the Vision of Isaiah, but
that of the Martyrdom requires investigation. According to Dillmann the latter consists of ii. 1—iii. 12,
v. 14-14. But with this view the present writer cannot agree. Other fragments survive in Chapter i.
Thus in ii. 1 the words ‘he did not remember the commands of Hezekiah’ suggest the questions :
What commands are these? and when were they given? Now we find the probable answer to the
latter question in i. τ, 2a, in which Hezekiah summons Manasseh before him in the presence of
Isaiah and Josab. The answer to the former question is still preserved in our text, though obscurely,
owing to editorial additions. Thus in i. 6 6 we learn that Isaiah gave certain commands to Manasseh.
These are referred to ini.7,ii.1. What these commands were is not recorded in our book, but
they are found in the Latin fragments preserved in the Opus /imperfectum, which go back not to our
text but to the original Martyrdom. ‘There we find the explanation of many difficulties in our text.
Thus in the first place we discover the reason for Isaiah summoning Manasseh in the twenty-sixth
year; for the Latin supplies it: ‘cum aegrotasset Ezechias in tempore quodam.’ In the next place
the object with which Hezekiah summoned Manasseh is not, as in our text, to become the depository
of certain visions i. 2 6-6, but to receive directions as to his religious duties and the government of
the kingdom: ‘ Vocavit Ezechias filium suum Manassen et coepit ei mandare, quod debeat Deum
timere, quomodo regere regnum et alia multa.’ But the final editor of the Ascension of Isaiah, whose
interests were centred in the visions, omitted these words, and attributed quite a different object to
Hezekiah’s summons of Manasseh. Hezekiah, he tells us, in i. 2. 6, summoned Manasseh ‘in order
to deliver unto him the words of righteousness which the king himself had seen’ (i. e. iii. 13 —iv. 18),
and also those which Isaiah the son of Amoz had given to him (vi—xi. 40). Thus i. 2 6-6 a was
added by the final editor to introduce the Testament of Hezekiah and the Vision of Isaiah.

We have now seen that i. 1, 2 a, 64 are derived from the original Martyrdom, but still more of
this chapter comes from this source—indeed from 6 ὁ to the close. This follows from the Latin
passage in the Opus /mperfectum which either quotes or implies a knowledge of i. 7, 10, 12,195. This
passage, wherein I have italicized the words that are drawn from our book, runs as follows: ‘ Provi-
dentia autem Dei sic eum dispensavit vocari, quia (ii. 1) ob/iturus fuerat omnem conversationem patris
sui sanctam et omnia beneficia Dei pro merito eius collata in ipsum, et (i. 8, ii. 4) stémalatus ab
insurgente diabolo. ... WDenique cum aegrotasset Ezechias in tempore quodam, et venisset ad eum
Esaias propheta visitandum, (i. 1,66) vocavit Ezechias filium suum Manassen et coepit ei mandare,
quod debeat Deum timere, quomodo regere regnum et alia multa. (i.7) Z¢ dixit ad eum Esaias:
vere quia non descendunt verba tua in cor eius, sed et me tpsum oportet per manum etus interfict :
(i. 10,12) Quod audiens Ezechias volebat filium suum interficere, dicens: Quia melius est me sine
filio mori quam talem filium relinquere, qui et Deum exasperet et sanctos eius persequatur. Tenuit
autem eum vix Lsaias propheta, dicens, (i. 13) trritum faciat Deus consilium tuum hoc. (Printed
with Chrysostom’s works, vi, pp. xx—xxi.—Ed. Montfaucon.)

§6. THE DATE.

The Martyrdom is quoted by the Opus Imperfectum, Ambrose, Jerome, Origen, Tertullian, and
in all probability by Justin Martyr (Dial. c. Tryph. cxx. 14, 15 περὶ τὸν θάνατον ‘Hoatov ὃν πρίονι ξυλίνῳ
ἐπρίσατε). It was not improbably known to the writer of the Epistle to the. Hebrews (xi. 37). This

157

THE MARTYRDOM OF ISAIAH

brings us, if the last reference is trustworthy, to the first century A,D. And this appears to. be the
right date; for it is unlikely that works written by Jews in the second century should attain to
circulation in the Christian Church.

§ 7. AUTHORSHIP AND ORIGINAL LANGUAGE.

The author was a Jew. The details as to the death of Isaiah at the hands of Manasseh are
found in the Talmud (Febamoth 496) in a form closely related to that in our text. Thus it is
told that Rabbi Simeon ben ‘Azzai found in Jerusalem an account of the death of Isaiah at the
hands of Manasseh. Manasseh condemned Isaiah to death because he had claimed to see
(Isa. vi. τ sqq.), whereas according to the Law it was declared that no man could see God and live
(Exod. xxxili. 20). The same passage tells also of Isaiah taking refuge in a cedar tree, and of the
cedar being sawn in sunder and Isaiah within it. Another version of the same legend is given in the
Jerusalem Talmud (Sanh. x), and still another in Targum on Isaiah quoted by Jolowicz (Die
Himmelfahrt und Vision des Prophets Fesajas, p. 9). See Fewish Encyc., viii. 636.

It is very probable that the original was written in Hebrew. The Jewish origin of the legend
points in this direction, and particularly its recurrence in the Talmud. The following facts also lend
confirmation to this hypothesis. In ii. 1 there is a paronomasia of the words ‘ Manasseh . . . did
not remember’ = when retranslated into Hebrew: ΠΣ πῶ. Again in i. 8 Malchira is probably
a transliteration of ν᾽ 3ΡῸ or »Π ΝΟ as S. A. Cook has pointed out. In iii. 2 we have the familiar
Hebraism καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ ἐλθεῖν... καί. Finally, ‘wooden saw’, i.e. πρίων ξύλινος in v. 11,1
appears to be ἃ mistranslation of yy wm, which means a saw for sawing wood. In the Greek γε.
iii. 14 it is described as πρίων σίδηρος.

§ 8. THE MARTYRDOM OF ISAIAH IN JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN LITERATURE
AND THE ORIENTAL INFLUENCES APPARENT IN IT.

The legend of the Martyrdom of Isaiah took its origin most probably in 2 Kings xxi. 16.
Although Josephus does not mention it, it was certainly a Jewish tradition. In Sanh, 103 ὁ it is said that
Manasseh put Isaiah to death ; and in Jebamoth 49 ὁ that Isaiah was put to death by Manasseh because
he declared that he had seen God. There, as in our text, Isaiah is charged with contradicting
the words of Moses in Exod. xxxiii. 20. His death also by being sawn in sunder is also recounted.
This account is probably drawn ultimately from the Semitic original of our text. Another form of
the Legend appears in Jerusalem Talmud (Sanh. x).

The legend was known in the Apostolic age, if, as is generally assumed, we have in Heb. xi. 37
(ἐπρίσθησαν) a reference to the specific mode of Isaiah’s martyrdom. But, even if this is doubtful,
there is the evidence of the Ascension (i. 1, 2 a, 6—iii. 12, v. 1 6-14) which cannot be much later than
the middle of the first century A.D. In the next century Justin Martyr most probably quotes from
our text (see note on v. 11), while somewhat later frequent references and quotations are found
in Origen.

But though the legend is undoubtedly Jewish, it appears to have been derived from Eastern
sources. According to the Zamydd Yast 46 (S.B.£. xxiii. 297), Bundahis xxxi. 5, xxxiv. 4
(op. cit. v. 131,150) Yima reigned 616% years and was then dethroned for his blind pride in accepting
divine worship and sawn in two by the serpent of three heads, Azhi Dahaka. In the Persian work
‘The History of King Djemchid and the Devas’ which Larionoff translated into French from the
Persian (Fournal Aszat. pp. 59-83, 1889) we find a nearly related legend. When Djemchid’s throne
was seized by Zohak, the man of serpents, he fled into the wilderness. One hundred years later
Ahriman and Biver (i.e. Zohak) having come upon him there, God caused a tree to open itself, in
order that Djemchid might conceal! himself therein. Notwithstanding, through the help of Iblis they
discovered his hiding-place and had the tree sawn in twain, and so Djemchid was killed. This legend
appears to have directly influenced the Talmudic accounts of the martyrdom of Isaiah exactly in
the points wherein they differ from that in our text.

§ 9. BIBLIOGRAPHY.

For complete bibliography see the present writer's edition of the Ascension of Isaiah and Schiirer’ iii. 283-5.

(a) The chief editions of the texts of the Ancient Versions will be found under § 3.

(ὁ) Critical Inguirtes (dealing with the Ascension of Isaiah as a whole and with its parts). Laurence, Ascensio
Isaiae Vatis, 1819, pp. 141-80; Nitzsch, Stud. und Krit., 1830, pp. 209-46; Liicke, Einlettung in die Offenbarung
des Johannes, 1852, pp. 274-302; Dillmann, Ascensto Jsatae, 1877, pp. v-xviii; Stokes, art. ‘Ascension of Isaiah’ in
Dict. of Christian Biography, 1882, iii. 298-301; Deane, Pseudepigrapha, 1891, pp. 236-75; Harnack, Gesch. der
altchristl. Litteratur, i. 854-6; ii. 573-9, 714; Clemen, ‘Die Himmelfahrt des Jesaja,’ Z/W7, 1896, pp. 388-415 ;
1897, pp. 455-65; Robinson, ‘Ascension of Isaiah’ in Hastings’ Bzble Dictionary, ii. 499-501; Beer, Apok. und
Pseudep., 1900, il. 119-23; Littmann, Jewish Encyc., 1904, vi. 642-3.

(¢) Editions. Laurence, Ascensio Jsaiae Vatis, 1819; Dillmann, Ascensio Isaiae, 1877; Charles, The Ascension
of Isaiah translated from the Ethiopic Version, which, together with the New Greek Fragment, the Latin Versions,
and the Latin Translation of the Slavonic Version, is here published in full, 1900.

158

THE MARTYRDOM OF ISAIAH

And it came to pass in the twenty-sixth year of the reign of Hezekiah king of Judah that he
called Manasseh his son. Now he was his only one. And he called him into the presence of
lsaiah the son of Amoz the prophet; and into the presence of Jésdb the son of Isaiah.
| And whilst he (Hezekiah) gave commands, Jésab the son of Isaiah standing by, Isaiah said to
ezekiah the king, but not in the presence of Manasseh only did he say unto him: ‘ As the Lord
yveth, whose name has not been sent into this world, [and as the Beloved of my Lord liveth], and as
the Spirit which speaketh in me liveth, all these commands and these words shall be made of none
effect by Manasseh thy son, and through the agency of his hands I shall depart mid the torture of
‘my body. And Sammael Malchira shall serve Manasseh, and execute all his desire, and he shall
become a follower of Beliar rather than of me. And many in Jerusalem and in Judaea he shall
‘cause to abandon the true faith, and Beliar shall dwell in Manasseh, and by his hands I shall be
sawn asunder.’ And when Hezekiah heard these words he wept very bitterly, and rent his garments,
Ι and placed earth upon his head, and fell on his face. And Isaiah said unto him: ‘The counsel of
Sammael against Manasseh is consummated: nought shall avail thee.’ And on that day Hezekiah

I. 1. ‘in the twenty-fifth year’, according to the Greek Legend.
2. Isaiah the son of Amoz the prophet. Amoz }N the father of Isaiah seems here to be confused with Amos
the prophet ΟῚ". The LXX uses ᾿Αμώς for both, and the Asc, Isa. iv. 22 and Megilla 10° both regard Isaiah as
aprophet’s son. According to the latter the father of Isaiah and King Amaziah were brothers.
7658}, i.e. Shear-jashub, Isa. vii. 3.

the son of Isaiah. The editorial addition 2-6? that here follows is omitted as being of Christian origin. See
my edition, p. 2.

6. commands. Cf. ii. 1.
7. and as the Beloved . . . liveth. This is an addition by the Christian editor who thus converts a reference to
the transcendence of God into a doctrinal statement about the Trinity.
depart. +‘from life’, Greek Legend, i. 8.
8. Sammael ΤᾺ Originally an archangel, he enticed the serpent to tempt Eve in order to make the earth his
kingdom, Jalkut Shim Beresh. 25. He became a chief Satan, Debarim rabba, 11; and the angel of death, Targ. Jer.
on Gen. iii. 6. See Weber’s Jiid. Theologie, 169, 218, 219, 253.
Malchira. This appears to be a surname of Sammael, cf. Asc. Isa. xi. 41 ‘Sammael Satan.’ But it also appears
as a variant of the name Balchira in v. 8 below. S. A. Cook in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Jan.

1901, p. 168, suggests yrrnda or yam, ‘evil king’ or ‘evil angel’. Beer in Kautzsch’s Pseudepigr. des A. T.
that that Bechira (see ii. 12) = Bevir, the other name of Zohak, the man of serpents, the associate of Ahriman
in the persecution of Djemchid.

serve The idea of demons being at the behest of men seems out of place here. On the other hand
Belchira’s service of Manasseh is equally unsuitable.

Beliar. Cf. i. 9; ii. 4; iii.11; v. 4 (ac). E corruptly reads ‘ Berial’. He is the chief of the evil spirits, and the
opponent of Christ, 2 Cor. vi. 15; cf. Jub. i. 20, xv. 33; Sib. Or. ii. 167 (to come as Antichrist), iii. 63-73, (to proceed
from the emperors of Rome, working signs and deceiving the elect, and finally to be burnt up); Test. xii Patr. passim.
For the etymology see Encycl. Bibl. 525-7.

Note Sammael’s relation to Beliar. They are alike in taking possession of Manasseh, ii. 1 and i. 9, iii. 11. But
Sammael is inferior, as he exerts himself to make Manasseh subject to Beliar i. 8 (ii. 1, 4).

9. Beliar. ‘Satan, Greek Legend i. 9.

το, Cf, Gk. Leg. i. το.

11. Sammael. ‘Satan, Gs. Leg. i. 11.

12. And on that day. ‘on this day and’ dc, ‘on those words’ a; ‘and in that hour’ σά. Leg.

I-II. 1. We may compare for the diction as well as the sense of many clauses in I-II. 1 the Opus Imperfectum in
Matthaeum Homil. J (printed with Chrysostom’s works, vol. VI, pp. xx-xxi, Montfaucon). ‘ Providentia autem Dei sic
eum dispensavit vocari, quia ob/iturus fuerat omnem conversationem patris sui (ii. 1) sanctam et. . . stimudlatus ab
insurgente diabolo (i. 8, ii, 4) . . .: Denique cum aegrotasset Ezechias in tempore quodam, et venisset ad eum Esaias
coher visitandum, vocavit Ezechias filium suum Manassen et coepit ei mandare (i. 1, 60), quod debeat Deum
timere, quomodo regere regnum et alia multa. 542 dixit ad eum Esaias: vere quia non descendunt verba tua in cor
eius; sed et me ipsum oportet per manum eius interfici (i. 7). Quod audiens Ezechias volebat filium suum interficere
(i. 12) dicens; quia melius est me sine filio mori quam talem filium relinquere, qui et Deum exasperet et sanctos eius
ur. Tenuit autem eum vix Zsazas propheta, dicens: irritum faciat Deus consilium tuum (i. 13) hoc, videns
lae religionem, quia plus amabat Deum quam filium suum.’
8-12. For a different account of this interview of Isaiah and Hezekiah see Berachoth, 1oa. ‘ What is the meaning
of the words “‘ Thou shalt die and not live?” “Thou shalt die in this world and not live in the next world.” He said:
“Wherefore is all this?” He answered him: “ Because thou hast not preached fruitfulness and increase.” He
sjoined: ‘‘ Because it was revealed to me by the Holy Spirit that unprofitable children would spring from me.” He
d: “ What concern hast thou in the secrets of the All Merciful? Thou shouldst have done what was commanded
and the Holy One, blessed be He, may do what pleases Him.” He replied thereto: ‘Give me thy daughter:
laps my merits and thine together will bring it about that profitable children may spring from me.” Then replied
The judgment is already determined regarding thee.”’’

159

THE MARTYRDOM OF ISAIAH 1. 13—2. 12

13 resolved in his heart to slay Manasseh his son, And Isaiah said to Hezekiah: [ἡ The Beloved hath
made of none effect thy design, and] the purpose of thy heart shall not be accomplished, for with this
calling have I been called [and I shall inherit the heritage of the Beloved].’

1 And it came to pass after that Hezekiah died and Manasseh became king, that he did not —
remember the commands of Hezekiah his father but forgat them, and Sammael abode in Manasseh —
2 and clung fast to him. And Manasseh forsook the service of the God of his father, and he served
3 Satan and his angels and his powers. And he turned aside the house of his father which had been
4 before the face of Hezekiah (from) the words of wisdom and from the service of God. And Manasseh
turned aside his heart to serve Beliar; for the angel of lawlessness, who is the ruler of this world, is
Beliar, whose name is Matanbichis. And he delighted in Jerusalem because of Manasseh, and he
made him strong in apostatizing (Israel) and in the lawlessness which was spread abroad in Jerusalem.
5 And witchcraft and magic increased and divination and auguration, and fornication, [and adultery],
and the persecution of the righteous by Manasseh and [ Belachira, and] Tobia the Canaanite, and John
6 of Anathoth, and by (Zadok) the chief of the works. And the rest of the acts, behold they are written
7 in the book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. And when Isaiah the son of Amoz saw the lawless-
ness which was being perpetrated in Jerusalem and the worship of Satan and his wantonness, he
8 withdrew from Jerusalem and settled in Bethlehem of Judah. And there also there was much
9 lawlessness, and withdrawing from Bethlehem he settled on a mountain in a desert place. [And
Micaiah the prophet, and the aged Ananias, and Joel and Habakkuk, and his son Jésab, and many
of the faithful who believed in the ascension into heaven, withdrew and settled on the mountain. |

10 They were all clothed with garments of hair, and they were all prophets. And they had nothing
with them but were naked, and they all lamented with a great lamentation because of the going

tt astray of Israel. And these eat nothing save wild herbs which they gathered on the mountains, and

having cooked them, they lived thereon together with Isaiah the prophet. And they spent two years of
days on the mountains and hills. [And after this, whilst they were in the desert, there was a certain
man in Samaria named Belchira, of the family of Zedekiah, the son of Chenaan, a false prophet
whose dwelling was in Bethlehem. Now +Hezekiaht the son of Chandni, who was the brother of
his father, and in the days of Ahab king of Israel had been the teacher of the 400 prophets of Baal,

13. [‘ The Beloved hath . . . Beloved’]. Editorial additions like 2-64.

11. 1. Manasseh ...forgat. Cf. for the play on the words Gen. xli.51; alsothe Opus Jmperf., and Gk. Leg. iii. 2.
commands of Hezekiah. See i. 6.
Sammael. See i. 8 (note).

2. Gk, Leg. iii. 2. A Jewish legend makes Manasseh remove the sacred name from the scriptures.

3. So the Ethiopic text. Cf. Gk. Leg. iii. 3 ἐξέκλινε πάντα τὸν οἶκον τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ λατρείας καὶ
προσκυνήσεως. Beer not so well renders ‘ changed in the house . . . all that had been’, ἅς.

from, supplied as in Gé. Leg. iii. 3.
4. Beliar the angel of lawlessness. Cf. Asc. Isa. iv. 2 ‘lawless king’; 2 Thess. ii. 3 ‘the man of lawlessness”
(= the Antichrist).
Beliar the ruler of this world. Cf. John xii. 31, xvi. 11; 2 Cor. iv. 4; also Eph. vi. 12 κοσμοκράτομας τοῦ σκότους
τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου, also ii. 2.
Matanbichiss. ac. ‘ Metanbakas’ b. [ἢ v. 3 it occurs as Mechémbéchiis.
in apostatizing. But ἐν ἀποστάσει (π΄, Cf. 2 Kings xxi. 9.

5. See 2 Chron. xxxiii. 6 (LXX) ἐκληδονίζετο καὶ epappaxevero καὶ οἰωνίζετο, also 2 Kings xxi. 6. Cf. Οὐ, Leg. iii. 3.
and adultery. > (ἃ and σά. Leg. iii. 3. ;
persecution. Cf. 2 Kings xxi. 16.

Belachira and. >. A premature mention, see ii. 12.
Anathoth. See Lzcycl. Bibl. in loc.
Zadok. & only.

6. 2 Kings xxi. 17, ἅς.

7. wantonness Ε ; πομπήν Uk; ἀσωτίαν Gh. Leg. iii. 8.

9. An editorial addition from Asc. Isa. vi. 7; ‘withdrew ... mountain’ is from ver.8 here ; ‘ his son’ and ‘many _

of the faithful . . . heaven’ are the editor's own. '

11. herbs. Cf. 2 Kings iv. 38 ff. This asceticism was a preparation for visions and-revelations. Cf. Dan. x. 2, 3;

4 Ezra ix. 26, xii. 51.
12-16. Belchira and his history, 12-16 is an insertion and interrupts the narrative of ii. 11-iii. 1.
12. Belchira, ii. 5°12, 16; iii. 1,6, 125 v. 2, 3,4, 5,12. The Greek Papyrus gives four different forms Bedixerdp,
Βελχειρά, Βεχειρά, and Μελχειρά. The Gk. Leg. gives Bexetpds (iii, 10), the Latin Bechira. The Ethiopic varies even more.
The most probable original is Melchira or Melchiah: See i. 8 (note). Beer prefers Bechira. But the Οὔ. Leg. often
mentions a false prophet MeAxias. Perhaps there was a confusion between the demon’s and the false prophet's names.
Or more probably the tempter and tormentor of the prophet is regarded as an impersonation of the devil. See ν. 9,10.
Isaiah calls him Διάβολος in G&. Leg. iii. 18. Ambrose on Ps. cxviii. usés diabolus. See v. 4 (note).
Zedekiah, the son of Chenaan. See 1 Kings xxii. 11.
Bethlehem. ‘Bethany’ &. :
+Hezekiaht the son of Chananit E. Read ‘Zedekiah,’ as in Gk. Frag. For the variation cf. Chron. Pasche
98 Β ἦσαν ψευδοπροφῆται ᾿Εζεκίας. . . καὶ ἄλλα and 96 ( ψευδοπροφῆται Σεδεκίας... καὶ ἄλλοι τετρακόσιοι. ὲ
the 400 prophets of Baal. Cf. Chron. Pasch. 1.5. Really the fellow-prophets of Zedekiah in 1 Kings xxii. 6
are nominally prophets of the Lord, and he is not connected with the 4co of Baal in 1 Kings xviii, 22. a
160

THE MARTYRDOM OF ISAIAH 2. 13—8. 10
i

13 had himself smitten and reproved Micaiah the son of Amada the prophet. And he, Micaiah, had
_ been reproved by Ahab and cast into prison. «(And he was) with Zedekiah the prophet : they were
_ 14 with Ahaziah the son of Ahab, king in Samaria. And Elijah the prophet of Tébén of Gilead was
reproving Ahaziah and Samaria, and prophesied regarding Ahaziah that he should die on his bed
of sickness, and that Samaria should be delivered -into the hand of Leba Nasr because he had slain

15 the prophets of God. And when the false prophets, who were with Ahaziah the son of Ahab and

16 their teacher Gemarias of Mount ;Joel} had heard—now he was brother of Zedekiah—when

_ they had heard, they persuaded Ahaziah the king of fAguaron} and s/ew Micaiah.

‘x And Belchira recognized and saw the place of Isaiah and the prophets who were with him ; for
he dwelt in the region of Bethlehem, and was an adherent of Manasseh. - And he prophesied falsely
in Jerusalem, and many belonging to Jerusalem were confederate with him, and he was a Samaritan.

2 And it came to pass when Alagar Zagar, king of Assyria, had come and captured Samaria and
taken the nine (and a half) tribes captive,and led them away to the mountains of the Medes and the

3 rivers of Tazén; this (Belchird) while still a youth, had escaped and come to Jerusalem in the days
of Hezekiah king of Judah, but he walked not in the ways of his father of Samaria; for he feared

4 Hezekiah. And he was found in the days of Hezekiah speaking words of lawlessness in Jerusalem.

_ 5 And the servants of Hezekiah accused him, and he made his escape to the region of Bethlehem.

_ 6And they persuaded... And Belchira accused Isaiah and the prophets who were with him,

᾿ς saying: ‘ Isaiah and those who are with him prophesy against Jerusalem and against the cities of

Judah that they shall be laid waste and (against the children of Judah and) Benjamin also that they
shall go into captivity, and also against thee, O lord the king, that thou shalt go (ound) with hooks
| 8 and iron chains’: But they prophesy falsely against Israel and Judah. And Isaiah himself hath
|. gsaid: ‘I see more than Moses the prophet.’ But Moses said: ‘No man can see God and live’:
| 10and Isaiah hath said: ‘I have seen God and behold I live.’ Know, therefore, O king, that he is

|
ἴω

᾿ lying. And Jerusalem also he hath called Sodom, and the princes of Judah and Jerusalem he hath
A smitten, &c. 1 Kings xxii. 24.

i = Amada = Imlah.

i a 13. And he was. &’ supplies.

5 Ahab, king in Samaria. Alamerem balala’aw E; ᾿Αλὰ(μ) ἐν Σεμμωμα Ge. For ‘Alam’=‘ Ahab’ see (αὖ
| iii. 15. balala’aw = probably basala’aw, i.e. βασιλέως. The ‘-erem’ is explicable from ἐν Σεμμωμα Uk? as ‘in Samaria’.
1 3 14. Elijah is introduced here unexpectedly.
iP of Téb6n of Gilead. Cf. 1 Kings xvii. 1 (LXX) ὁ Θεσβείτης ἐκ Θεσβῶν τῆς Ταλαάδ, and Josephus, A7zé. viii. 13. 2
| ἐκ πόλεως Θεσεβώνης τῆς Γαλαδίτιδος χώρας. This Thisbe is mentioned in Tobit i. 2. For the omission of 6 Θεσβείτης

cf. MS. A of the LXX. The Massoretic punctuation in 1 Kings xvii. 1 of ‘WN = ‘ of the sojourners of’.
gree regarding Ahaziah. 2 Kings i. 1-6.
ba NAsr. Corrupt for Salmanassar. Cf. 2 Bar. lxii. 6 and 4 Ezra xiii. 40.
15. Gemarias 1; Talerias E; Ἰαλλαριας G&*?; corruptly Joel E; Ισλαλ (πὸ; Efrem 3.9. Here again the Latin
version gives the easier reading. S.A. Cook, Journ. R. Asiatic Soc., Jan. 1901, p. 168, suggests that Joel is a
corruption of Ebal and Efrem of Gerizim, or that Rephaim (Joshua xv. 8) and Jeruel (2 Chron. xx. 16) are referred to.
Probably, however, Joel is corrupt for Israel, for which % boldly substitutes the familiar phrase ‘ Efrem’ after ‘mount ’.
16. now he #; now {bchira E (a); now Βεχειρά (πῇ, % makes Gemarias the brother of Zedekiah, E and &*
make Belchira, though in ver. 12 he is said to be his nephew.
. +Aguaront E; Gomorrha &? @', Probably [ΩΦ was misread ΠΝ (Cooke). If so, restore ‘Samaria’.
| III. 1. And Belchira recognized. (τὸ i’.
| 2. Alagar Zagar. i.e. Salmanassar. Cf. ii. 14.
| sg ahalf. GH. Cf. 2 Bar. Ixii. 5; Ixxvii. 19; Ixxviii. 1; 4 Ezra xiii. 40 (Syr. and Arab.). >anda
E.
| mountains ¢? %'; ‘ boundaries (?)’ E. Cf. LXX and Mass. in 2 Kings xvii. 6.

: Taz6n = Gozan. 2 Kings xvii. 6.
| 5. they persuaded (πὸ; ‘he persuaded’ E. Who the ‘they’ are is uncertain. Perhaps the false prophets
‘persuaded Belchira.
| 6. those E ; ‘the prophets’ &’ 1,

against the children of Judah and. Restored from i’.
with hooks and iron chains. Cf. 2 Chron. xxxiii. 11 (LX X ‘bonds’ not ‘ hooks’).
7. Judah +‘and Jerusalem’ %'; ‘and Benjamin they hate, and their word is evil against Judah and Israel’ (πῇ,
8-9. Cf. Origen, Jn Jesatam Homi. i. 5 ‘ Aiunt ideo Isaiam esse sectum a populo quasi legem praevaricantem et
extra scripturas annuntiantem. Scriptura enim dicit: ‘“ Nemo videbit faciem meum et vivet.” Iste vero ait: ‘‘ Vidi
᾿ς Dominum Sabaoth.” Moses, aiunt, non vidit et tu vidisti? Et propter hoc eum secuerunt et condemnaverunt ut

j impium.’
| ‘ 9. Noman, ἄς. Exod. xxxiii. 20.

i I have seen God. Isa. vi. 1.
} Io. heislying. &’#'. ‘they are lying prophets’ E.
i erusalem ... Sodom, &c. Cf. Isa. i. 10. Cf. Jerome, Comm. in Jes. i. 10 ‘aiunt Hebraei ob duas causas
4 int um Isaiam: quod principes Sodomorum et populum Gomorrhae eos appellaverit, et quod, Domino dicente ad

Mosen Non poteris videre faciem meam, iste ausus sit dicere Vidi dominum sedentem super thronum excelsum et
elevatum.’ Cf. Jebam. 49 ὁ.
1105.2 161 M

THE MARTYRDOM OF ISAIAH 8. το--δ. 14

declared to be the people of Gomorrah. And he brought many accusations against Isaiah and the

11 prophets before Manasseh. But Beliar dwelt in the heart of Manasseh and in the heart of the

12 princes of Judah and Benjamin and of the eunuchs and of the councillors of the king. And the
words of Belchira pleased him [exceedingly], and he sent and seized Isaiah.

5 1b,2 And he sawed him asunder with a wood-saw. And when Isaiah was being sawn in sunder

Balchira stood up, accusing him, and all the false prophets stood up, laughing and rejoicing because

3 οἵ Isaiah. And Balchiré, with the aid of Mechémbéchis, stood up before Isaiah, [laughing]

4 deriding; And Belchira said to Isaiah: ‘ Say: “I have lied in all that I have spoken, and likewise

5 the ways of Manasseh are good and right. And the ways also of Balchira and of his associates are

6, 7 good.”’ And this he said to him when he began to be sawn in sunder. But Isaiah was (absorbed)

8 in a vision of the Lord, and though his eyes were open, he saw them (not). And Balchira spake

thus to Isaiah: ‘Say what I say unto thee and I will turn their heart, and I will compel Manasseh

g and the princes of Judah and the people and all Jerusalem to reverence thee.’ And Isaiah answered

and said: ‘So far as I have utterance (I say): Damned and accursed be thou and all thy powers and

το, 11 all thy house. For thou canst not take (from me) aught save the skin of my body.’ And they

12 seized and sawed in sunder Isaiah, the son of Amoz, with a wood-saw. And Manasseh and

13 Balchira and the false prophets and the princes and the people [and] all stood looking on. And to

the prophets who were with him he said before he had been sawn in sunder: ‘Go ye to the region

14 οἵ Tyre and Sidon; for for me only hath God mingled the cup.” And when Isaiah was being

sawn in sunder, he neither cried aloud nor wept, but his lips spake with the Holy Spirit until he —

was sawn in twain.

11. Beliar. See i. 9 (note).
12. exceedingly. E only.

V. 2. wood-saw. See note on ver. II.

3. Balchira, with the aid of Mechémbéchiis. So all MSS. But the verbs following are in the plural. For
Mechémbéchiis see ii. 4.

laughing, a doublet.

4-8. Balchira ὁ (or ‘ Beliar’ ac) tempts Isaiah.

4. Cf. Ambrose, Comm. on Ps. cxviii (ed. Bened. vol. i. 1124): ‘ferunt quod Esaiae, in carcere posito cum mole
imminentis urgeretur exitii, dixisse diabolum: Dic quia non a Domino locutus es, quae dixisti, et omnium in te mentes
affectusque mutabo, ut qui indignantur iniuriam absolutionem in te conferant.’

7. saw...not. Negative supplied as in Asc. Isa. vi. 10.

8. Balchira 4c. Milchiras’ a. See ii. 12 (note).

9. So far... accursed 4. ‘So far as I am concerned, accursed—that is to say—’ a. The curse is against the false
prophet as man (‘house’) and as an emissary of Satan (‘powers’). Cf. κατάθεμά σοι, Μελχία ψευδοπροφῆτα, διάβολε,
Gk. Leg. iii. 18. Cf. also Matt. xvi. 23.

II. a wood-saw. For the sawing asunder of Isaiah cf. Justin Martyr, Déal. cum Tryph. cxx. 14,15; Tert. De
Patientia, 14 ‘ His patientiae viribus secatur Esaias et de Domino non secat’; Scorfiace 8. A‘ wooden saw’ E, Gk. Leg.
iii. 19, Justin, Déal. c. Tryph. cxx. 14, 15 περὶ τὸν θάνατον Ἡσαΐου, ὃν πρίονι ξυλίνῳ ἐπρίσατε, &c., is a misunderstanding of
7'Y "WD, which is a saw for sawing wood, whether of iron or any other metal, Gé. Leg. iii. 14 has πρίονι σιδηρῷ.

12. and—an intrusion.

13. the cup. Cf. Matt. xx. 22.

14. neither cried aloud nor wept. Cf. ‘patientiae viribus,’ Tert. 2. c.

162

BOOK OF ENOCH

INTRODUCTION

δι. SHORT ACCOUNT OF THE BOOK.

IT is seldom that authors attain to the immortality which they hope for, and it is still more
seldom that anonymous authors achieve this distinction. And yet it is just such a distinction that
the authors of the Book of Enoch have achieved. That such should be ultimately his lot was the
deep-rooted conviction of one of this literary circle. He looked forward (civ. 11-12) to the time
when his writings would be translated into various languages, and become to the righteous ‘a cause
of joy and uprightness and much wisdom’. This hope was to a large degree realized in the centuries
immediately preceding and following the Christian era, when the currency of these apocalyptic
writings was very widespread, because they almost alone represented the advance of the higher
theology in Judaism, which culminated in Christianity. But our book contained much of a question-
able character, and from the fourth century of our era onward it fell into discredit ; and under the
ban of such authorities as Hilary, Jerome, and Augustine, it gradually passed out of circulation,
and became lost to the knowledge of Western Christendom till over a century ago, when an Ethiopic
version of the work was found in Abyssinia by Bruce, who brought home three MSS. of it, from one
of which Laurence made the first modern translation of Enoch. It was not, however, till recent
years that the Book of Enoch and similar works have begun to come into their own owing to their
immeasurable value as being practically the only historical memorials of the religious development
of Judaism from 200 B.C. to 100 A. D., and particularly of the development of that side of Judaism,
to which historically Christendom in large measure owes its existence.

The Book of Enoch is for the history of theological development the most important pseudepi-
graph of the first two centuries B.C. Some of its authors—and there were many—belonged to the
true succession of the prophets, and it was simply owing to the evil character of the period, in which
their lot was cast, that these enthusiasts and mystics, exhibiting on occasions the inspiration of the
O.T. prophets, were obliged to issue their works under the aegis of some ancient name. The Law
which claimed to be the highest and final word from God could tolerate no fresh message from God,
and so, when men were moved by the Spirit of God to make known their visions relating to the
past, the present, and the future, and to proclaim the higher ethical truths they had won, they could
not do so openly, but were forced to resort to pseudonymous publication.

To describe in short compass the Book of Enoch is impossible. It comes from many writers
and almost as many periods, It touches upon every subject that could have arisen in the ancient
schools of the prophets, but naturally it deals with these subjects in an advanced stage of develop-
ment. Nearly every religious idea appears in a variety of forms, and, if these are studied in relation
to their contexts and dates, we cannot fail to observe that in the age to which the Enoch literature
belongs there is movement everywhere, and nowhere dogmatic fixity and finality. And though at
times the movement may be reactionary, yet the general trend is onward and upward. In fact the
history of the development of the higher theology during the two centuries before the Christian era
could not be written without the Book of Enoch.

From what has been already said it is clear that no unity of time, authorship, or teaching is to
be looked for. Indeed, certain considerable portions of the book belonged originally not to the
Enoch literature at all, but to an earlier work, i.e. the Book of Noah, which probably exhibited in
some degree the syncretism of the work into which it was subsequently incorporated. This Book
of Noah clearly embraced chapters vi-xi, liv. 7—lv. 2, Ix, Ixv-Ixix. 25, cvi-cvii.?

1 Nearly all the writers of the New Testament were familiar with it, and were more or less influenced by it in
thought and diction. It is quoted as a genuine production of Enoch by St. Jude, and as Scripture by St. Barnabas.
The authors of the Book of Jubilees, the Apocalypse of Baruch, and 4 Ezra, laid it under contribution. With the
earlier Fathers and Apologists it had all the weight of a canonical book.

? Portions have been preserved in Jubilees vii. 20-39, x. I-15, but the date of this Noachic literature is at latest
pre-Maccabean.

163 M2

BOOK OF ENOCH

" agus ν᾿ es

As regards the Enoch els the oldest portions of it are ieee a panes)
xii-xxxvi, and probably xc. 1-17, 12-17, i. e. the Apocalypse of Wee =f, was still warring,
i.e. Ixxxiii-xc, were in all Protity written when Judas the gee cari sate σιν δὴ
165-161 B.C., ΙΧΧΙ-ΊΧΧΧΙΙ before 1.¢,, the Parables, xxxvii-lxxi and ad Print

The authors of all the sections be to the Chasids or their successors : δ ΠΗ of εἷη; Shee

Conflicting views are advanced on tAessiah, the Messianic kingdom, 9 = ἐν an elaborate
the final judgement, the resurrection, anu nature of the future life. : a heavenly bodies
angelology and demonology, and much space is-nted to the calendar, a 4 ε com Cloak
and their movements. Babylonian influences are 1.manifest and ina slight He a Axonal

The Book of Enoch, like the Book of Daniel,: written originally ΒΗ Povo while
partly in Hebrew. From an Aramaic original is deriwi-xxXV!, and paste Ae categoria is
the rest of the book comes from a Hebrew original. To ¢fmine these ques με a translation of
a task of no little difficulty, seeing that for four-fifths of ttext we have ἜΣ For the
a translation, and that such close affinities exist betwee{lebrew κἀν i oak the Ethiopic
resemblances between the two languages are so great that frequlY retransia μές νὰ ly been great
into either is sufficient to explain corruptions in the former. TS has rion τὸς has spent
divergence of opinion on this question, but in the opinion of the oo Ld ἐπ eile of the view
considerable time on the problem, the balance of evidence is decidy 17 ἴα
above stated. as

In the course of his studies it suddenly dawned upon the writer ¢hgmuch of the eiftical
originally written in verse. This discovery has frequently proved helpful in ΤῊΝ
passages, and the recovery of the original in a multitude of cases.

§ 2. THE TITLE.

Our book appears under various titles, which may be briefly enumerated as follov

1°. Enoch. Jude 14 ἐπροφήτευσεν . . . ἕβδομος ἀπὸ ᾿Αδὰμ ᾿Ενὼχ λέγων.

Ep. Barn. ix. 4 ὡς ᾿Ενὼχ λέγει. iii. 474.

Clem. Alex. Eclog. Proph. (Dindorf iii. 456) ὁ Δανιὴλ λέγει ὁμοδόξων τῷ ᾿Ενώχ : also ig Ἐνὼχ

Origen, Zz Joannem vi. 25 ὡς ἐν τῷ ᾿Ενὼχ γέγραπται: Contra Celsum v. 54 τῶν ἐν
γεγραμμένων. ἧς : ἢ spiritus

Tertullian, De Cultu Fem. ii, 20 ‘ut Enoch refert’ ; De Zdol. iv ‘Enoch praedicens’ xv; ‘.

. «+ praececinit per... Enoch,

Anatolius of Laodicaea (cited by Eus. 1. £. vii. 32. 19 τὰ ἐν τῷ ᾿Ενὼχ μαθήματα). ‘tself

2°, The Books of Enoch. This is probably the oldest title. The fifth section of the book hich
opens with the words: xcii. 1 ‘The book written by Enoch’. cviii. 1 begins : ‘ Another book w, , .
Enoch wrote. Inlxxxii.1 Enoch says to Methuselah : ‘ All these things Iam recounting to thee,, 1
and given thee books concerning all these: so preserve .. . the books from thy father’s hands.’ xi\he
‘The book of the words of righteousness’. The third section, i. 6. lxxii. 1, begins ‘The book of t,
courses of the luminaries’. These passages imply a plurality of books.

But though apparently the oldest title, it has not the oldest independent attestation. Itis foun
in the following works:

T. Jud. xviii. 1 (8 AS?) ἐν βίβλοις Ἐνὼχ τοῦ δικαίου.

T. Lev. x. 5 (A) = καθὼς γέγραπται ἐν βίβλοις ᾿Ενώχ. 2

Origen, Contra Celsum v. 54 τὰ ἐπιγεγραμμένα τοῦ Ἐνὼχ βιβλία: Ln Num. Homil. xxviii. :
‘In libellis qui appellantur Enoch ’. i

Pistis Sophia ‘ea in secundo libro teu, quae scripsit Enoch’.

Syncellus (Chronographia, ed. Dind.), i. 19 ἐκ τοῦ πρώτου βιβλίου τοῦ Ἐνώχ. The same phr.
recurs ini. 20,48. Cf. i. 42 ἐκ τοῦ πρώτου λόγου ’Evdéx. -Here and in the preceding work the division
of Enoch into books is clearly recognized. There were five such divisions or books ; see § 6.

3°. Book of Enoch. This title is found in:

T. Levi x. 5 (a, deg) καθὼς περιέχει ἡ (> 2b) βίβλος ᾿Ενὼχ τοῦ δικαίου.

Origen, De Princ. i. 3. 3 ‘In Enoch libro’: iv. 35 ‘in libro suo Enoch ita ait’,

Hilary, Comment. in Ps, cxxxii. 3 ‘ Fertur id de quo etiam nescio cuius liber exstat’.

Jerome, De Viris illustr. iv ‘De libro Enoch qui apocryphus est’.

Syncellus, of. cit. i. 60 ὡς ἐν τῇ βίβλῳ αὐτοῦ "Evox φέρεται. But this title may refer merely to
one of the books of Enoch, and so come under 2°.

3°. Words of Enoch. This title has the oldest external attestation. Jub. xxi. 10, ‘For thus

I have found it written in the books of my forefathers and in the words of Enoch, and in the words
of Noah.’

164

INTRODUCTION

T. Benj. ix. 1 ἀπὸ λογίων (= λόγων B-d) ᾿Ενὼχ τοῦ δικαίου. This title finds some justification
in 1 Enoch i. 1 ‘ words of the blessing of Enoch’ ; xiv. 1 ‘ book of the words of righteousness.’

4°. Writing of Enoch:

T. Lev. xiv. 1 (β A), ἔγνων ἀπὸ γραφῆς ᾿Ενώχ. See also in T. Sim, v. 4, T. Naph. iv. 1.
Tertullian, De Cultu Fem. i. 3 ‘scio scripturam Enoch . . . cum Enoch eadem scriptura etiam
de domino praedicarit’

ᾧ 3. ITs CANONICITY.

The citations of Enoch by the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs and by the Book of
Jubilees shows that at the close of the second century B.C., and during the first century B.C., this
book was regarded in certain circles as inspired. When we come down to the first century A.D.,
we find that it is recognized as Scripture by Jude. See under § 2, 1° In the next century this
recognition is given amply in the Ep. Barnabas xvi. 5 λέγει γὰρ 7) γραφή; by Athenagoras, Legatio
pro Christianis 24 ἃ τοῖς προφήταις ἐκπεφώνηται (referring to Enoch) ; in the third century by Clem.
Alex. Eclog. Prophet. ii, see § 2, 1°; by Irenaeus iv. 16. 2 ‘Enoch... placens Deo... . legatione ad
angelos fungebatur’; by Tertullian, De Cultu Fem. i. 3, De Idol. xv, see § 2, 1°; by Zosimus of
Panopolis, quoted in Syncellus (Dind. i. 24) τοῦτο οὖν ἔφασαν αἱ ἀρχαῖαι καὶ ai θεῖαι γραφαί, ὅτι ἄγγελοί
τινες ἐπεθύμησαν τῶν γυναικῶν. After the third century the Book of Enoch fell into discredit and
gradually passed out of circulation.

§ 4. THE MSS.

Bodley, No. 4. Large quarto. 40 foll. 3 cols. 105 chapters. Latter half of eighteenth century. Enoch
only.

Bodley, No. 5. Large quarto. 141 foll. 3 cols. Eighteenth century (?). Enoch (98 chapters), Job,
Isaiah, Twelve Minor Prophets, Proverbs, Wisdom, Ecclesiastes, Canticles, Daniel.

Frankfort MS. Riipp. II. 1. 34x30 cm. 181 foll. 3 cols. Eighteenth century. In several hands.
Enoch (98 chapters), Job, Octateuch.

Curzon MS. Quarto. ΟἹ foll. 2 cols. Enoch (102 chapters), Job, Daniel, 4 Ezra, Sirach.

Curzon MS. Small quarto. ror foll. 2cols. Marginal notes from another hand. Enoch (98 chapters ἢ),
Samuel, Kings, and Apocryphal book.

British Museum. Add. 24185 (Wright’s Catalogue, 1877, No. 5). 2 cols. of 23 lines. Nineteenth century.
Enoch only. 106 chapters.

Brit. Mus. Orient. 485 (Wright, No. 6). 190 foll. 23x19 cm. 2 cols. of 23 or 24 lines. First half of
sixteenth century. Enoch (without division into chapters), Book of Jubilees. On foll. 1688-177*
a duplicate of chapters xcvii. 6>—cviii. 10 is inserted from another MS. akin to g. See next MS.

. This MS. consists only of xcvii. 6%-cviii. 10, and is found in foll. 1688177 of g. It is inserted between
the last word and the last but one of xci. 6. It is written by the same scribe, but the text though
belonging to the best type differs from g.

Brit. Mus. Orient. 484 (Wright, No. 7). 3 cols. of 50 or 51 lines. Eighteenth century. Enoch (108
chapters), Octateuch, Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, 1-4 Ezra, Tobit, Judith, Esther, Sirach.

Brit. Mus. Orient. 486 (Wright, No. 8). 3 cols. of 29 lines. Eighteenth century. Chapters i-Ix. 1.38
missing. Nos. of remaining chapters erased. Enoch, Samuel, Kings, Jeremiah, Sirach.

Brit. Mus. Orient. 490 (Wright, No. 12). 3 cols. of 30 lines. Eighteenth century. Enoch (107 chapters),
Job, Daniel, τ Ezra, Isaiah, Twelve Minor Prophets.

Brit. Mus. 24990 (Wright, No. 13). 3 cols. of 31 lines. Eighteenth century. Enoch (divided into
chapters, but no numbers supplied), Job, Books ascribed to Solomon, Isaiah, Twelve Minor Prophets,
Daniel.

. Brit. Mus. Orient. 491 (Wright, No. 15). 219 foll. 40x32cm. 3 cols. of 27 lines. Lighteenth century.
Enoch (without division into chapters), Job, Twelve Minor Prophets, Tobit, Judith, Esther, Maccabees.

Brit. Mus. Orient. 492 (Wright, No. 16). 3 cols. of 30 lines. Eighteenth century. Enoch (87 chapters),
Books ascribed to Solomon, Jeremiah, 1 Ezra, Canticles, Sirach, Judith, Esther, Tobit.

Brit. Mus. Orient. 499 (Wright, No. 23). 3 cols. of 31 lines. Eighteenth century. Sirach, Daniel, Enoch
(106 chapters), Isaiah, Twelve Minor Prophets.

Formerly in the possession of Lord Crawford—now in the Rylands Collection. 67 foll. 39x33 cm.
3 cols. Seventeenth century. Enoch and other books.

Berlin MS. Peterm. II. Nachtr. No. 29 (Dillmann’s Cat. 1). 167 foll. 17x14 cm. 2 cols. of 13 to 14
lines. Sixteenth century. Without division into chapters. Enoch only.

Abbadianus 16 (vid. Caz. raison. de mss. éthiop. appartenant ἃ A. d’ Abbadie, Paris, 1859). Nineteenth
ows Enoch (77 chapters) and other works. This is a poor MS., but it exhibits a few good
readings. |

Abbadianus 30. Eighteenth century. Enoch and other works. This is a poor MS., but has some
notably good readings.

165

BOOK OF ENOCH

Δ Abbadianus 35. 40x35 cm. 3 cols. of 38 to 39 lines. Seventeenth century. There are many erasures
and corrections and marginal notes. The latter belong to the later type of text, and are designated
as t?. The division into chapters is marked in the margin on the first few folios. Enoch, Job,
Samuel 1 and 2, Kings, Chronicles, Books ascribed to Solomon, Prophets, Sirach, 1-4 Ezra, Tobit, —
Judith, Esther.

uv. Abbadianus 55. 191 foll. 51x39 cm. 3 Cols. of 48 to 50 lines. Possibly as early as the fifteenth
century. Enoch (without division into chapters) and other works. ‘Text of Enoch much abbreviated
after chapter Ixxxili.

v. Abbadianus 99. 70 foll. 23x17 cm. 2 cols. Nineteenth century. Copy made for M. d’Abbadie
from a MS. in high estimation among the native scholars. This MS. has all the bad characteristics of
the later type of text, but has some excellent readings. Enoch only.

w. Abbadianus 197. 157 foll. 26x23 cm. 3 cols. of 29 lines. Seventeenth or eighteenth century. Enoch
(98 chapters) and other works. ;

x. Vatican MS. 71 (cf. Mai, Script. veterum nova collectio, Romae, 1831, tom. v. 2, p. 100). 27 foll. 3 cols.
of 32 lines. Seventeenth century. Enoch only. 98 chapters.

y. Munich MS. 30. ὅτ foll. 25x15 cm. 2 cols. of 20 to 28 lines. Seventeenth century. Division into

chapters only at the beginning. Enoch only.

Paris MS. 50 (see Zotenberg’s Cat.). Seventeenth century. Enoch (division into chapters only at the

beginning) and other works.

sz’. Paris MS. 49. Eighteenth century. Copy of ὁ.

τα. Garrett MS. 17x12cm. 2 cols. of 22 lines. Nineteenth or end of eighteenth century. Enoch only.

,2. Westenholz MS. 71 foll., of which first and last two are empty. 2 cols. of 24 lines. Eighteenth century.
106 chapters. Enoch only.

Relations of the Ethiopic MSS.

(a) There are two forms of text, a, 8, of which β is late and secondary. a is represented by
g,gmgtu (and in some degree by 2), while 8, which owes its origin to native scholars of the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries, is represented by all the remaining MSS. The result of their labours has
been on the whole disastrous, as these revisers had neither the knowledge of the subject-matter nor
yet critical materials to guide them as to the true form of the text. The attestation, however, of
neither group is uniform ; especially is this so with a, which only once perhaps in twenty cases is
undivided in its testimony. Thus it appears that the recension was not the work of a few years,
but was rather a process which culminated in such a text as we find in 8, and particularly in
the MS. z.

(ὁ) β or groups in βὶ at times preserve the original text, where a is secondary.

g. Of the MSS. of a, g is decidedly the best all-round MS. It has been made the basis,
so far as any single MS. can, of my text. It, however, exhibits much strange orthography and bad
grammar.

ig. This MS. (alread

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Full text of "The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament in English : with introductions and critical and explanatory notes to the several books"

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